Scaling Mountains
by coincidental101
Summary: Currently subjected to a rewrite. See profile.
1. Chapter 1

A tall figure, covered in a dark blue cloak, standing in the shade of a massive tree that grows in a wide, open field. The head of the distinctly female person lifts, observing the clouds. In the distance, thus soundless, fiery shapes descend toward the surface, tearing those clouds apart. The woman turns and walks away from the tree, towards a small town.

**436 years later**

"No, listen to me. They know we have their offer beat and the Local Cluster Development knows very well that they will not be able to better us any more, not this late in the game, yet they still drag this on and on. Tell them I will give them one more week to decide. They might be in demand, but we are the ones with the supply. More than what they ask for, even."

"Very well, I'll try to make it a bigger point. So, business aside, do make sure to enjoy your free days off and don't let them be rained on by this. We will make it happen, don't worry."

"How is it that everyone in this company knows...Oh, never mind. Thank you and, yes, I will. We will speak again after the weekend."

Closing the conference video station with a sigh, she leans back and runs her hand through the mass of her long black hair. Turning around in her comfortable chair, she looks out of the large window behind her, onto the seemingly mono-colored white industrial district of The City, here on Home. The suns' light entering her offices, colors her naturally pale, almost white skin in a much more healthy shade. Anyone asked would say her golden eyes are piercing through them like daggers. Would they see them at this moment, though, they would see them half-lidded in contemplation.

Her interest in 'their' history making her think about the simplicity of the name 'they' gave their settlement back then, but they clung to it and nobody bothered to rethink that decision.

Almost a thousand years ago, Earth succumbed to massive solar flare outbursts of its sun. The protective layers of atmosphere were literally blown away, leaving free reign for the intense solar winds to scorch the surface. There were signs leading up to the event, which were interpreted correctly and more importantly early enough to allow an evacuation of the entire planet's inhabitants.

To an extent, at least. An arc, a large transport vessel, offering space for the collection of genetic information of all the then known species that inhabited earth was built, while being manned by almost a hundred, and, of course, their accommodations. The human population of the planet, which was slowly evacuated over a much longer period of time, well before the Arc, had migrated to this colony or that space station.

With the arc and the last of humanity leaving earth, they started to search for a new home planet. Unwilling to give that title to one of the existing colonies, mostly because they were settled on non-atmospheric worlds or on form-follows-function space stations orbiting such a planet, nearly three generations passed until they arrived at the planet deemed most suitable by astronomers. Well before they arrived, word spread quickly among the settlements and stations about a new earth having been found. The resemblances to the Blue Planet was slim, this one featuring a lot more landmasses and seas with a greenish hue, provided by the plant life under the water's surface.

The people quickly accustomed themselves to simply calling it Home, though no one was able to tell where that began or how it managed to spread and hold so steadfast onto all colonies. This extended to the name of the megacity that was planned to house everyone who applied to move in from one of the colonies. The concept of such a city was conceived and tried on earth, long before it became known that the planet would become uninhabitable. The simplicity of its name stemmed from the two facts that, first as with the planet itself, people called it City long before the world was even settled upon and second, because there were twelve people directly responsible for everything that concerned the creation of such a project. Nobody wanted to give a city twelve names, anagrams didn't produce anything feasible and, last but not least, none of the twelve was above another in either rank or standing.

With a shrug, she gets up, walks over to her VFU, the Vacuum Food Unit, and pulls out a pack of her favorite drink. Filling a large glass with the white liquid, she remembers the strange looks she gets for ordering milk. Two, sometimes three glasses even, in the cafeteria and everyone stares at her as if they never saw such a thing.

_Oh well, their loss._

With that thought, she wipes away the "white beard", which, to her embarrassment, she sometimes forgets to remove. Binding her hair back, collecting her belongings from her desk, she heads out of her office. Her secretary, a strong-willed young woman, looks up from her typing and shows one of her rare, but radiant, genuine smiles. Almost craning her neck to see the tall woman's face, wiping away at her shoulder length blond hair falling over her green eyes.

"You finished for the day, Miss Lunastra? Do you have some nice plans for your days off? I could make a few recommendations, if you're interested." She greets and gives her usual offer for tips on where to spend a night out.

"Please, I told you to just call me by my first name." Her employer says, a daily exchange that goes on for quite a few weeks already. With the regularly accompanying sigh, the older woman continues "Anyway, you are a fan of the "old arts", as you call it, right? Theater and such."

"I will not call you by first name...abbreviation...uh, in business hours." Mu doesn't react to the stumbling of her secretary, which unsettles the latter a bit, every time the topic of her boss' name comes up, short as it may be. Shaking her head, the secretary continues "And yes, you are right. There are two very interesting plays in EC this weekend."

_The Entertainment Center, hm? I do not think I am up for that busy a place this time._ Mu thinks meanwhile. "Thank you, but I plan to make it a calm vacation this time." she responds, wearing a smile herself now.

"This time? Your last time was a year ago. You shouldn't...I'm sorry, that is your choice of course."

"Do not worry, I appreciate the thought" _And if there is anything I have enough of, it is time._ "Well then, I will see you on Monday." With a polite nod, the tall woman leaves her office behind.

–

The city was built entirely with a sturdy, white compound, the ingredients of which are unique to this continent. And, so far, to this planet. _Well, we had been working with it on our own for so long. I guess, in hindsight, with the technology for refinement, provided when they settled down, there could be no other way for it than to work out this well. __And then it turned out the material was suitable for nearly all conditions under which humans live now._ she muses, as she exits the trade zone, a mix of a financial and production district, itself as large as some of the biggest cities of earth before its end

Had someone merely been told about a city, or even just a stretch of urban canyons kept in plain, pure white, they would likely have thought the glaring brightness on a sunny day would make living in such a place unbearable.

Apart from the very top of the tall buildings, a simple, yet clever design provides shade, or to be more precise spots where the light is basically dimmed, instead of reflected back onto the wide-open street canyons. Combined with the different spectrum of the planet's suns' light, it manages to make the living conditions much more comfortable, to a point of relaxing, compared to the 'urban jungles' that were on earth's large cities.

_Amazing. To think it is only one company that has the exclusive rights to produce this material. So it is a good thing it is my company, I suppose. _She shakes her head and chastises herself_ But no thoughts about work for the next few days. _Lunastra looks around what is basically her city. _Having had the home field advantage certainly provided me with very interesting possibilities._ she thinks, as she strolls along the walkways towards the transport station closest to her office.

She indulged herself to leaving her company a little earlier than usual, which is why she now finds the streets almost empty, allowing her to immediately enter one of the transport tube's cabins. Once comfortably seated, she puts on the Vid Glasses placed in every cabin of the tube, to watch the news feed. The newscaster appeared and announced: "An hour ago, at 14:03 Home Time, Station 4 on the outer rim suffered a heavy attack, resulting in several dozen dead Soldiers. A carrier managed to jump into the area just 6 minutes later, but the station already suffered two major hits by..."

With a sigh, she puts the glasses away again. _If there is any consistency in the history of humanity, it is that there will always be a war. You would think with the amount of times it happened, with all the damages it caused them throughout all social classes...They even warn themselves in all kinds of media, especially the books about then-futuristic settings. Learning from past mistakes is not a part of that species' vast repertoire of characteristics. I suppose that, among so many things, is what makes them so interesting to some of us._

Upon reaching her stop, Lunastra undoes the safety straps, gets up and pushes the button to open the door. Exiting into the much more colorful residential district, the station being set into a comparably small shopping area, she threads her way through the throng of people, who are waiting for the group transport cabins, that will take them to their workplaces, since the first night shifts at the production plants are beginning soon. The suns already hanging low, only just left peeking over the top of the living-blocks, they cover everything in a fiery red, mixed with the light blue caused by the reaction between the artificial carbon dioxide and natural atmosphere of the planet.

Lunastra heads for the local market, the thought of a nice meal, her comfy couch and a cold glass of milk lets her walk that little bit faster.

A short while later, finally at home, she before makes herself comfortable as intended, dressed in nothing but a big, white shirt, she wanders along her small library. Uncommon in the days of purely digital, instantly available literature, she developed a liking for the written word on cooked, then dried fibers of wood.

_Indulging in an archaic, expensive and, for prolonged periods of time, somewhat uncomfortable pastime. If my father knew, he would shake his head. Then again, mother does something similar, so it is very likely he at least suspects I have an inclination to some form of..hm..nostalgic pastime. _Choosing a book, she settles down on her couch.

After a few hours lost in her book, she drinks the last of her third glass of milk and a long yawn escapes her. Deciding to end the day, she gets up, stretches with a delighted sigh and heads for her bedroom to prepare her wardrobe for the following day. As she wanders through her condo, her path leads her past the only closed door, generally the only other door beside the one securing the entrance, of her home.

A sudden, but ever so often recurring feeling makes her stop next to it. _Yet again, I have neglected you for a long period of time. I hope, some day, when we can finally meet, you will be able to forgive me. _

Hesitating for a moment, she puts her hand and her forehead on the slightly warm wooden door. Behind it, an almost, not quite, palpable hum of a feeling, the notion of something on the brink to life. _A state it has been in for so long._ A tear escapes her eyes, wiping it away hastily. Determinedly, though with a heavy heart, she turns away. And proceeds to her bedroom.

Once finished with preparations and a quick, ice cold shower later, she makes her way under the sheets, warmed by an entire day of sunlight. The lingering thoughts about the object in her closet, some providing the distinct taste of regret - about what, she doesn't know - drift away easily into the night. The soothing sheets she wraps herself in, tugged almost entirely over her head, do the rest.


	2. Chapter 2

_Well now, that was...I think I need to stop doing that, if I start feeling bad about it... _Sighing, she walks toward the exit. _It felt a lot faster, the way through these halls, when I went in. Another side effect of her...oh, now that's enough! _Making her way through the departments of The History Physics, Engineering in the Second Century, Politics by Decades and past a half dozen restaurants, she reaches the exit and steps out into the sunlight, taking a deep breath, before heading for the transport tubes leading to the inner city. Her mind still on the picture, she turns at the corner of a building, bumping heavily into another person.

As she is quite a bit taller than most people, even of her own, and therefore that much sturdier, additionally supported by her nature, she manages to stay standing, whereas her unintended target lands soundly on their backside.

"Oh my goodness, I am sor-"

Looking at who she hit, she hesitates at the sight of the head shaking, light brown, back length heap of hair. Crystal clear blue eyes searching upward for her face, meeting her own, almost golden ones.

"Ah..It is you." Fluster turning to apprehension.

Her held out hand twitches, as if to pull it back, refusing assistance to the fallen, she reluctantly holds her hand further. Grabbing it, the other responds "Geez, that's nice. Here I haven't been seeing you for weeks and that's how you greet your cousin when you bump into her? Harsh." the other woman says, wearing a mockingly sad face, but unable to hide the twinkle of amusement from her eyes.

Taking another deep breath, Lunastra shakes off the sudden feelings too old to begrudge. _And that is far beside the point of us having been children then. These seemingly random flashes of memory can be quite irritating. _"Eidetic memory can be a tricky thing, no? Well, I am genuinely sorry, and pleased to see you, Athana. Coincidental as it may be." she says, yanking her cousin up.

"Well.." the other woman drawls out, patting the dirt from the road off of her pants. "I came to this area, since I knew you'd come by here on your first day off in a long while."

Lunastra stares at her cousin with wide eyes "How did you-" she tries to ask how her cousin knew she would be at the museum, but gets interrupted.

"After all, you can't leave out a chance to look at..." Trailing off there, Athana makes it a point to look around, as if to spot unwanted listeners. And her cousin doesn't disappoint, giving her the reaction she hoped for.

With a flush rapidly covering her face, Lunastra flails her arms around, almost shouting embarrassed "No no no, you cannot know about that. How did you find out about that one picture among so many?"

"Ha!" With a triumphant grin, Athana poses triumphantly, standing tall, with her hands on her hips.

While the other woman's face falls. "Oh..." and realizes her mistake.

"One step closer to your little secret. For months you've been in and out of the museum." Before Lunastra can interject, to ask if she'd been followed, her cousin continues "Don't worry, whatever it is on that mysterious picture, it can't be anything offending. To anyone. Since it's you we're talking about."

With a third sigh of this early day, Lunastra shakes her head. "And you wonder why I react the way I do, upon seeing you after some time. Really now, what do you gain by snooping around in my head? You have always been this way." A few memories pass through her mind, making her smile affectionately.

"And you love me for it. After all, knowing tidbits let me help you a number of times at various points in your oh-so-troubled life, hm?" Athana winks at her cousin, wearing a wide grin

"I suppose you are right. Do answer my question, as to how you knew about my vacation, though. I am not fond of leaks in my company." She mulls over the possibilities for a second, arriving at the conclusion her cousin confirms at the same time.

"Your secretary. I've met her a few times quite a while back, before you employed her, and it turned into a sort of friendship. So, when we happen to meet somewhere in town, or wherever, we usually take a bit of time to sit down and talk about random stuff."

"So I am mere random stuff now, too, am I?" Lunastra smirks. "Oh never mind, too often you speak directly what is on your mind." Thinking for a moment, Lunastra decides to invite her cousin for an early meal "Say, I was on my way to the inner city, to the bookstore as you are likely able to guess, until I hit you. Would you care to join me for lunch?"

"Hit me, you say..now that brings back fond memories, while we're on the topic. Anyway, sure, I was hoping you'd invite me." the smaller woman grins brightly.

"Not exactly how I meant it, but occasion has me indulging your whim." With yet another sigh - _Let that be the last one of the day, hm?_ - Lunastra turns and simply marches off, leaving her cousin to try and follow her long strides.

–

Situated in a building on the side of a large, three-leveled plaza with short, but wide staircases leading onto each of them, the place the two women chose to eat at is surrounded by plant life of various sizes, planted into a neatly arranged setup of flowerbeds, seamlessly inserted into the floors. All around the plaza, different kinds of plant life carrying arrangements, producing a comfortable make the place one of the most frequently visited by City's inhabitants. Even more so than the parkway, as there are many stores, specialized small ones and two department stores.

The two women seat themselves outside, in a corner of the small restaurant. Ordering from the menu, the two exchange happenings since last they met. Athana doesn't miss the fact that Lunastra keeps mostly to business related topics. It prompts her to interject "Always about work, Mu." Athana says, now her turn to sigh.

"Do not say it like that." the other woman indignantly indulges on the interruption. "I am merely focusing on one thing at the moment. You know very well there is more than enough time for developing a personal life of the kind you are thinking about. Even with the news about the war this morning. It is not like we, so deep in the core, have to worry about that, so I can take my time, no?"

While saying so, Mu is well aware of what Athana is talking about. Her emotional flash from the evening before will, like many times before this one, hold on for a few days. _Must be our equivalent of the 'biological clock', that many of them complain about. But then, I am in a rather solitary position of experiencing this variation of it._

Athana watches a flow of emotions rushing over her cousin's face, conceding once more on the uncomfortable subject "Hm..it's your life, of course. I, we, just want to see you happy. It's why no one said anything about your choice to live this way. Even if it's been so long already." Mu wants to respond to that, but her cousin holds up a hand to forestall the interjection "Alas, lets stop these old discussions. We've been through this enough times along the years." She shakes her head and returns to the topic Mu is most comfortable talking about "Alright, so how are things going with your recent project?"

Eying her cousin warily for a moment, she almost lets an apology slip out, but catches herself, knowing that wouldn't be a welcome gesture. Instead, she relays her recent accomplishments "Very well, I would like to think. We have been asked to make an offer for a new settlement on the recently discovered habitable moon."

"Already? They're working fast on that one." Athana responds, surprised, as the start of initial stages of the project only lasted a few months.

"Yes. It seems they found a previously unknown Material there. It is said to have the properties needed for the mechanical terraforming. As opposed to the long process using plant life, it is supposed to enable adjusting an entire planet in a mere decade." Mu expects an irritated interruption from Athana, considering her work with plant life, including the research into the terraforming properties of any currently known species, usually has her defending the process as favorable over artificially accelerated variations.

No objection forthcoming, aside from a roll of her eyes, Mu continues "Either my company or our rival will be tasked to produce the living quarters for personnel, as well as the mining related machinery and its housings, as you might have guessed."

She takes a sip from her glass of cold milk, not without having to suffer a smirk from her dear cousin, making her smile as well. "Our offer exceeds that of our rival by a good margin, which they would be struggling to just match. But Planetary Development drags out the negotiations, as if they expect the others can come up with something.

Someone will have to explain to me how they want to rush progress on one hand, while on the other resorting to such methods."

"Well,as long as you're sure of your offer and stay as headstrong as you are with your decisions, you'll be fine." A wide grin spreads on Athana's face "They'd have to have some really hard heads to get by you."

Unconsciously, wearing a small, appreciative smile on her own face, Mu wipes at the condensation on her glass with her finger "A surprising compliment, thank you." she says, looking straight into the eyes of her cousin, trying to convey her sincerity.

It reaches the other woman, as she agrees "Well, we've butted heads enough for me to know how it hurts to go against you."

Mu's smile crooks slightly, the teasing makes her sigh yet again "Now you put me in a bad light again. That really seems to be your strong point. Words and twisting them, that is."

"Now I thank you." the teasing continues, supported by the still present grin.

"Butting in, rather than butting heads?" with a smirk, Mu tries her own jab.

That elicits a loud laugh from Athana. Who concedes this one to her cousin "Yes, okay, I got it."

A short while and a bit of pleasant smalltalk later, after they both finish their meal and receive their ordered drinks, serving as dessert, there is a sudden mood shift in her cousins expression and behavior. As Athana knows it to happen every so often, she patiently waits for the other woman to express her concern.

Fidgeting around with her fork in her food, Mu hesitates, but, taking a deep breath, resolves to ask "Have you put more thought into having a child? You said your husband did not feel it to be the right time yet, because he was traveling so much for work, wanting to be there for the both of you."

_That's a surprise. I wonder what brought this on. _"Well...we did talk about it again, yeah. I don't mind his wish to travel a little more. As you so eloquently put it: if there's one thing we have enough of, it's time. For now, I have my little sisters to play around with as well." Seeing the wary, thought filled look on her cousin's face, she adds "You don't have to talk about this, though, if it makes you so uncomfortable." _Not to mention that it's been decades since she last did._

"It is fine. From time to time it enters my mind and does not leave for a while. This time, I am merely genuinely curious about your thoughts. Whether you wish for...things...to proceed, for example."

Athana notices a little of the apprehension disappearing. _So she just wants to talk about it. _"Nah, it's alright." Leaning back in her chair, she smiles brightly "This city is on the way to become something better anyway, so regardless of our situation, I agreed with waiting to be the right thing to do at this point."

"What exactly do you mean, better?" The other woman remembers their last conversation about work, mentioning the possibility of a breakthrough.

Her counterpart leans forward in her chair and excitedly relates her news "My colleagues at the Botanic Institute and I have discovered a way to give all kinds of plants the ability to absorb and process the uncombined minerals in the building stuff your company makes, while limiting their growth to a certain time span." Waving her hands around in a circle, indicating to their surroundings, she's almost at the edge of her seat, when she adds "The City and our team are negotiating a way to finance the vegetate the entire Residential District. We're very close to realizing the project."

Chuckling at the antics of her cousin, her expression turns to a fond reminiscence "So even in our work we are as close as ever, is it?"

"That's a nice way to put it, yeah. I like the thought of that." Athana responds and they both fall into an appreciative, thoughtful silence.

A few minutes later, finishing their drinks, Athana looks at her watch. "Well, it's been a nice morning." She gets up and gathers her belongings. "We should get together again soon. For now, though, I have to get back to work. Plants don't grow themselves, you know?"

"Of course they do." Mu says, slightly confused, certain that her cousin is only using a saying, but one she isn't familiar with.

That has her cousin laughing aloud again. "Yesyesyes, you go and enjoy your weekend now. Anything in particular planned?" she asks, as she dons her jacket.

Paying for the both of them, Mu ponders on what she might do after her visit to the book store, knowing Athana would just laugh at that being her only plan so far, she tries to come up with something else. Together, they stroll over the plaza, heading back to their transports.

Her moment of consideration draws on longer than Athana expects, but the other woman doesn't say anything, as Mu slowly, unconsciously returns to the previous indecisive fidgeting. Finally, after a few minutes of thinking about it, Mu tries hesitantly "Maybe...maybe I will go to the mountains. It has been a very long time." Her cousin raised an eyebrow at that, about to respond to that bold statement, but getting interrupted. "Tomorrow, maybe, you know? I am not sure..yet." Mu stammers out.

Athana stops walking and stares at her cousin "You know you're always welcome there, right? Nothing to fear to go back to?" The eyebrow wanders a little higher and a small smile makes its way to her face.

Reflecting it, Mu shakes her head "Yes, I know." And finally looks into Athana's eyes again "And you should know by now that it is not fear I feel.

A breath she didn't realize she held escapes Athana. Encouragingly she pats Mu on the shoulder "Tell me if you really go, I've been neglecting a bit to visit as well."

"That would be nice." _Not to mention make it easier to face my parents after so long, hm?_ she thinks wryly. "I will call you."

Suddenly being hugged, Mu is, at first, startled, but immediately responds alike. "You should really go. They miss you too, you know?" her cousin murmurs into her shoulder.

"I know. I am not their only child, so I would think they know how to let go, no?"

Another laugh escaping her, Athana says "It doesn't work that way, and you're well aware of that." Letting go and patting Mu's head, Athana ignores the indignant look from the taller woman. When saying their goodbyes, though, Mu smiles again, as she watches her cousin's retreating back.

She shakes her head once more and turns around to leave in the direction of the bookstore. _Treating me like a child again. I do not know whether to be mad at you, or thank you for trying to me feel better. Still, saying all those things, now I really have to think about a visit. _

_Oh my..._

With a flurry of thoughts running through her head, she ends up in front of the bookstore. She walks past rows of digital reader pads and stacks of V-Glasses input sticks. The current forms in which stories are presented to their readers. The technology to go even further, using a direct cranial implant, had been dismissed, banned in some colonies, because of a severe accident, even resulting in deaths.

She steps through a curtain at the back of the store, behind which, thanks to an arrangement with the store's owner, a different kind of vendor has his shop. With the majority of paper books kept safe in various government run libraries, this little shop is one of very few remaining, the last on this planet, selling only printed word. She feels calmed immediately by the intensely different ambiance, taking a deep breath, taking in the increasingly rare odor of leather, paper and ink.

She heads straight for the science fiction corner, the oddity of reading those stories in the time she lives is not lost on her. _That goes for reading real books in the first place, though._ At least, these stores, scattered throughout the inhabited corners of this universe, are proof to her, she is not alone with her foible.

With revived spirits, Mu leaves the store to make her way back to her apartment, planning to lose herself in an old imagination of the time she lives in, leaving the odd emotions of the day behind. Except for the last one, entering her mind upon selecting a book. _Though not war, there is still secrecy, suffering and saving. _

_Why does this make me feel so strange today?_


	3. Chapter 3

Like many other executive authority governmental bodies, with the emigration of humanity, the Police had been largely privatized, to a degree. As such, the law-keeping institution now calls itself Office of District Security. Within its compartments, Division 4-2 represents the second headquarter in the fourth district, which is the residential area. Strewn around each district are eight police offices, usually manned with two officers. Two headquarters for each district, each responsible for four of the small offices.

During City's rapid growth, people always thought there are too many small offices, which turned into a sort of truth, as, along the years, criminal behavior declined from an already low level, only flaring in a big flash a few times since. Within District Security's offices, many traditions and guidelines on how to run a law enforcement agency are kept from earth's police force, one of which is the rank system.

Captain Marie A. Castaneda sits at the biggest desk of the madhouse that is the secondary headquarter. Literally so, because she had the order to stay put for at least a week, following one such flare of misbehavior from a citizen. A stun shot, received from a mentally broken down bank manager, who tried to rob his own branch office, three days earlier.

She is still quite annoyed that someone, especially a person who should really know better, tried this in an age where technology makes such old fashioned crimes basically impossible. With her eyes closed, she is basking in the light entering through the half-height window in front of her. The very permissible weather, providing cozy sunrays to deliciously warm up her coffee brown skin extending from under a plain gray t-shirt and a pair of jeans, softens her irritation slightly.

_A well financed and extremely organized group didn't manage it four years ago, so what switch misfired to make you think you could? And, of course, I had to be there, by chance, just to be shot. _She shakes her head, her back-length, smooth black hair settling over her left shoulder. A small, annoyed grunt escapes her._ Silly people everywhere. How could anyone really think things would change from back on earth, aside from methods._

Shaking her head again, she turns around in her office-chair, facing the datapad laying in front of her. She goes on with reading, signing and filing, albeit digitally, the tons of paperwork stacked inside of it.

_Same thing here, nothing ever changed. Well, except that we don't drown in paper anymore, like in the old movies. Now it's just one electronic paper, which has all the other hundreds in one neat package...yeah, no difference._

Gulping down the last of her cold, synthetic coffee sends a shiver down her spine

_The list goes on, hm? It has to be a universal law, a fundamental physical constant, for there to be bad, stale coffee in a police station. Bet Einstein didn't see that one coming._

_And then they call me old fashioned while keeping up over two thousand year old traditions? Some strange thought processes going on there..Why mess with working systems, is it?_

As if to agree to that, her computer, built into the bland desk, beeps and a monotone, tinny voice announces a result to an input she initiated a while ago. "Search completed. Inspection for authenticity of information of registered residents resulted in three thousand one hundred and forty two hits. With the exception of one, the patterns fit those known of misfiling and/or neglect of proper entry. Display exception?"

Twice every year, the databases of registered citizens and those waiting for admission are searched entirely. With the help of a near-AI level computers, it managed to minimize fraud and actually keeps the inhabitants on the right path. _Maybe they just became reasonable? HA! Right.. _

Wearing a smirk, Marie answers the device "Yes" _Lets see what we have here, then._ Her already low interest in the file-pad lost in an instant, Marie looks over the information provided. _Industrialist M.U. Lunastra. Strange name._ "Show detailed information. Personal and public." _First of all, a complete name.._

Instead of a change in the display in front of her, the voice notes "Information displayed is the accumulated data of 42 official files and public articles about or relating to entries with the name M.U. Lunastra." 

_What? This is all? How is that possible..._ "Display main data"

Name: M.U. Lunastra

Age: 67

Sex: female

Origin: Settlement 1

Current location: Residential District 4-2, 43rd Street North, Residence 1, Apartment 9 and 10

No personal information, marital status unknown, no record of relatives.

Company owner of Solid Structures. On the terrestrial side, the company, as a contractor to The City Administration, its subsidiaries are the exclusive constructors for all buildings and their facilities in the residential, 85% in the industrial/trade and 80% in the environmental/supply, as well as 80% of the political district.

Extra-terrestrial involvement in 32% - of which 12% are exclusive rights - of mining operations, habitation facilities and an additional 2% in classified military issues. The latter is sealed with a Level 4 clearance.

Company Location: Industrial District 1-6, 13th Street West, Building on space 10

Medical Reco-

"That's enough for now" Marie murmurs and stares at the picture of a brunette, wearing a stiff business suit, who looks at the camera with an indifferent expression, exuding a professional air. _Owning nearly everything on this planet and a third of the universe on top at the age of just 67? Good grief, how can a single person be so powerful? I need to keep up with the news... _Marie continues to stare, and catches herself beginning to admire minute details of the – as she thinks - entirely beautiful face in front of her.

Shaking herself from those thoughts, a detail in the report that caught her eye a moment ago, but got pushed aside at the appearance of the picture, finally registers in her mind. _Wait a minute, Settlement 1? No family listed? That can't be. Must be why the computer alerted. _Delighted at this find, she rolls back her chair and stretches her legs. _Finally something to work these at again. Telling me I won't be able to walk for much each day? Hah, I'm hurting them more with sitting around here all day._

Now really intent on getting out of her office, she reaches for the button that places a call to the comm-unit of her superior, who has his offices in the primary headquarter building. A connection establishes in mere seconds. "Commander, I'd like to take an official walk." She says, as soon as the picture of the friendly, but harsh face appears on her screen.

"Good day to you too, Captain." The deep voice responds calmly. "How are your wobbly feet?"

"Ah" Caught in her enthusiasm over the possibility to do some actual work, she momentarily forgot proper procedure. Hoping she didn't blow her chance, she apologizes mechanically, formally "I'm sorry if I offended you, sir. I may have been a bit too enthusiastic to find something usef-I mean...aw hell." Or tries to.

If she weren't holding a hand in front of her eyes as a reaction to her response, she would be able to see a hint of a smile from her superior. Knowing her since the beginning of her career, her commanding officer is very familiar with her behavior. As a reward of her complaint free acceptance of desk duty, he ignores her misbehavior. Not without a jab "Right, at least I can see you're trying to be sincere." Which has Marie lowering her hand, revealing a crooked grin. Shaking his head, the Commander continues "Tell me, then, who will this walk lead to?"

Her enthusiasm once again overriding her repentance, she informs him, flourishing her hands, as if to emphasize the point "The yearly citizen-check spat out the 67 year old CEO of universe owner Solid Structures." and adds with a grin "The computer says she's born in Settlement 1"

Waiting a second if there was any more forthcoming, the Commander processes what his subordinate said. His black-and-gray brows bunch up into a frown. "I see." is his answer after a short moment. "That is, of course, something that needs investigation." But he is not about to let her off that easily "You should have a free detective, if I'm not mistaken? This week's been slow enough. Not that I am complaining."

Confident she won't fall for any persuasion, anything less than a direct order, Marie answers "Well, no, sir. I mean, I could send someone, but this low allows us to properly finish all paperwork for once." and instantly realizes she put a foot in her mouth.

"Such as yours?" The frown had already vanished and now one of his brows wanders in the other direction.

"Uh..well.." She tries to sort her head for a believable, usable answer "If it turns out to be nothing, I still have a few days desk duty, so I'll finish it in any case." 

Containing himself from telling her that it just might turn out to be something, he sighs and concedes her request. He reminds himself that he had been in the same place, albeit quite a while ago, after all. _Haven't we all, at some point. _He thinks, while pictures of his colleagues, huddled behind desks for decades, make their way through his mind.

"Sir, thank you, sir!" She salutes to her screen.

That has her superior's head shaking again. "Don't overdo it." But then he regards her seriously "In both regards."

"Yes sir, I won't si-ah..I will have a report on your desk soon, then." clearing her throat, she ends the connection. _Damn, that was close. Now, finally something to do._

Grabbing her ID and coat, she leaves her office under cheerful comments of her underlings about her health, asking her if she needs assistance. Two of them going as far as to come up to her with their rolling office chairs, offering them as wheelchairs. Laughing heartily, she heads for the elevators, taking it down to the ground floor, where she will find the Non-Human Crimes division.

Despite its name, the officers there are rarely – never – concerned with aliens, but rather computer related activities and worker bots. While the latter, albeit a rare occurrence, usually means an accident, there had been the odd attempt to manipulate them for plain murder. The former, however, consists of mostly monitoring the processes that make up the Artificial Intelligence.

Cyber-crime had also been reduced to a rather small problem in recent decades. Though they can only speak for themselves, as this applies only to City, whereas, especially on the Outer Rim Stations, there are still plenty of wrong doings, be it digital or manual. This office, then, established a border between the far off threats and peaceful City.

Entering the sparkling clean department of her computer addicted colleagues, unnoticed, as half of the officers were concentrating on fiddling with their computers and the other half, going by the time, should be having lunch. Marie walks straight into the corner-room of her good friend and rank equal Captain James Harwing. Who currently worked on a bit of wiring under his tidy, white desk.

"Hello there, Jamie, long time no see!" Marie's enthusiastic voice enters the room almost before herself. Not seeing James at first, but hearing the uncomfortably loud thunk and curse from the direction of the desk, as she enters and doesn't find him. Unperturbed, she sits down in front of the man now rubbing his short, brown-haired head.

The stocky officer glares at Marie, "Dammit, Marie! Can't you at least knock? There are people doing some actual work here, you know?" pointing at her, then at his desk, all the while still wincing.

"Of course I could, but then you wouldn't feel my presence." She pipes.

"Very funny, I'm gonna laugh me a headache. No, wait, that was you." The distraught face answers. Straightening himself up, he asks "So, what brings you here, making me share your pain of desk dutifully?"

She lets out a laugh and gets up again, fetching herself a cup of coffee. "You're in good form today, hm?" Indicating the unasked question whether James would like a cup as well, she receives a nod. "I'm here, because I just finished the yearly check of our dear citizens, well the computer did, and told me that we have an flag on a nice, young, mega-rich money grubber."

Like her superior earlier, her colleague now expectantly waits for anything more forthcoming. When she merely continues making two cups of coffee, he gives in"That is nothing new, you know. And certainly not illegal, depending on the methods, of course. Get to the interesting bit, please."

With a grin, she hands a cup to him "Oh, I would think being born in Settlement 1 is interesting, no?"

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, he takes a sip of his brew. "Hm, that **is** strange." Contemplating on how anyone could manage that, he thinks over the procedures involved in being entered into the system in the first place.

"That would only be possible if someone altered the information, which, to my knowledge, is, at the very least, not easy. Not saying impossible, as you seemingly just brought proof against that. The other possibility would be that someone has now lived at least 300 of his or her current 189 years expectancy average." He smirks at her "Even you will see the logic error in that."

Shooting her colleague a dirty look, he continues, unimpressed "But, as it has been done since we set up camp here, every newborn is registered into a hard-coded databank, specifically to prevent things like this, or make them this easy to detect. The only way to manipulate that is the physical exchange of the data stick in City's mainframe, which in itself would already alert at least a half dozen agencies. You really got something interesting there, Marie." His interest piqued, he asks "What is it you want from me hen? I guess a thorough research of your money grubber?"

"Exactly. The A.I. in our systems is good, but you have a few..more flexible ways to look at the data. And you might be able to find a bit more than just the basic, coincidentally wrong, dates and facts, as well as some news articles about the company's progress in the short time our person of interest has been there. It's like she just popped up and made a local company own nearly all of this planet and a third of everything else in mere decades."

Scratching his head at the compliment, James admits "As you say, the A.I. is quite good with these things, so I wouldn't get my hopes up that I find an awful lot more. If they are this deep in the systems, they know what they're doing. Whoever they are." scrunching up his nose at the prospect of an unknown criminal group, capable of this scale of manipulation. _And it can't be just one person. That really would be impossible. _"But I'll get to digging right away. It's time much better spent than fixing a mishandled comm unit. The things we have to do here...might as well be a clerk."

"Thanks for the help. Even if you might not find much." Marie puts their cups away and, before leaving, turns around in the doorway to regard her colleague "I will be visiting the good CEO herself, then. Let's see if I can't get her to at least stumble over any inconsistencies on the basis of which I can ask our upper folks for a more direct approach."

James notices that she's steadying herself on the door frame, so when Marie turns to leave him to his work, he calls out to her. Being spoken to once more, lets her face him once more, noticing a concerned look from her friend. "Before you leave, how're your feet? You seem to struggle a bit still."

His concern makes her smile "I'm fine, really, just not much feeling in the nerves yet." she assures him. "It'll take another day, then they'll be back. I speak from experience. There's nothing to worry about, it just means I'll be tired a bit sooner. So, I'll be seeing you."

Shaking his head, he turns back to his computer, the comm unit in need of fixing forgotten, and starts to search for information about Marie's CEO. _That came out different than intended. If she knew..._ Smiling, he delves into Solid Structures' history and personnel.


	4. Chapter 4

Before she leaves, Marie heads over to the front desk of her offices, exchanges a little banter with the two people manning it and places a quick call to the reception desk of the company building of Solid Structures. The receptionist tells her about the absence of Lunastra, due to her vacation. _Just as well. Actually better, I'll speak to her employees first. Usually those types can't wait to run their mouths off on gossip. _Her course of action set, she heads out to take the tube to the company itself, before she visits the CEO's apartment and the woman herself. _Who knows, maybe she isn't even home, so it'd be a waste of time anyway._ _The secretary will know._

The ride to the Industrial District takes only ten minutes, during which Marie decides against using the video device in her cabin to check up on the news. _While I said I need to keep up, it really is just either boring things or depressing crap about the war. _With a sigh, she exits the tube at its destination.

She walks through a deep valley of skyscrapers. Despite each having its own plaza in front of them, they seem tightly packed. Not far behind the rows of towers, the corresponding manufacturing plants form the majority of the industrial district. A turn at a corner takes her directly towards the building of the company she seeks, settled between much taller office buildings. _Largest company, smallest building. Does it tell of her personality? A fluke?_

At the reception desk in the tall, largely glass walled building, the receptionist asked her politely to officially identify herself as a member of the police, as well as log her visit. Only then she is allowed to enter the upper floors. _"I am sorry, it is mere procedure" she says. And that superior smile...What does she think she is?_ Now a little agitated, the lift ride seemed to take entirely too long and, arriving at the top floor, it only deposits her in front of another reception desk. _What was the point, then? _

Doing her best to remain polite, she asks the receptionist to be let through to the company owner. After being asked to show her credentials once more, Marie is informed that, unfortunately, Ms. Lunastra is currently unavailable. "She will return on Monday. Would you like to make an appointment?" This receptionist manages to not grate on Marie's nerves, which lets Marie shrug off a little of her earlier irritation.

"While I'm already here, I could also speak with an employee of hers. Maybe her secretary is in?" This time being treated as a decent human being, she is led to what looks, through the large, half transparent glass wall, like a modest office. Inside, a diminutive woman sits at a tidy desk, apparently typing into their computer, so far not noticing the approaching women.

"This office, Ma'am." The receptionist tells Marie, excusing herself with a polite nod and a smile. Before entering. Marie glances at the name plate affixed to the left of the door, while the receptionist returns to her post. She knocks on the door frame, enters and greets the surprised, rising woman.

"Miss Taylor, I am Captain Castaneda from District Security." Marie introduces herself, shaking hands with the other woman. Looking around, she notices this room being connected to the room behind the door the receptionist and herself passed on their short way to this office. _Interesting, the secretary's office is behind that of the CEO. _

"The Police?" Looking slightly confused, the secretary, returning the greeting and introducing herself as well, beckons for Marie to sit on the chair in front of her desk. "How may I help you, Captain?" she asks. Friendly and, after the initial surprise, unperturbed, Marie notices.

"You're not going to ask what you've done wrong? That's rare." She smiles at the woman. Girl, really, considering their apparent age difference. "I would like to ask you a few questions."

Cocking her head slightly, the secretary laughs "I'm quite certain I didn't do anything warranting a visit from the police." Gesturing at her surrounding office, she adds "And if it's about the company...well, I'm not worried about that either."

Intrigued, Marie leans forward. "So sure. How come?"

The secretary's fine, young features turn into a fond smile, much unlike what Marie expected of someone talking about their employer. "Mainly because of Ms. Lunastra, whom you are likely here to speak to or ask about. I'm sure the reception already told you that she is not present, though."

_Sharp, this one. Very good._ "That's right, I came to see if she was available." she lied. "Since I'm here already, though, I thought I'd have a talk with someone working for her, for the moment. Would you tell me about your boss, then? Of course, now that you mentioned it, you can already guess I'll ask about what it is that makes you so sure it is unlikely for me to be here for any misdeeds with or by her or her company." _This one seems to be fine to banter with. Good start._ The thought makes Marie smirk internally.

The other woman leans herself back into her chair and elaborates on her words "First of all, to put things into perspective, I haven't been here that long, just a bit over 2 years. As it is with these companies, you would expect me to just be treated like a clerk, especially by the higher ups, or one higher up, in this case." She looks directly into Marie's eyes "Meaning I would only have hearsay and bad rumors about my 'bossy boss'." speaking in a tone that lets the other woman know that she knows the thought doubtlessly crossed their mind.

When Marie's eyebrow creeps up, the secretary grins and shrugs. "It's what I expected, when I started here, considering the things I've heard from friends in the same line of work. As well as experienced it, when I tried to work in a different company first. Somewhat fortunately, they went out of business." After a deep breath, the fond smile is back. "Anyway, it's different here."

Leaning back and taking a sip of her coffee, pulling a face as she notices how old and therefore cold it had gotten, she realizes her lapse in hospitality. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even ask if you would like to have something to drink." So she get up and empties her own, stale coffee in the sink, washing it out, while asking the Captain "A tea, coffee, water or...milk?"

The just resettled eyebrow wanders back up on her forehead. "Milk?" She does accept a coffee though, thank you.

"Well...it's a habit, an eccentricity, if you will, of Ms. Lunastra." With a wry smile, she gets to making two cups. "It's a bit awkward, offering that to guests, but she insists. Saying she'll like the guests that bit more, if they want a cup of milk." Letting out a small laugh, she hands one cup of coffee to Marie.

"I guess everyone needs their quirks, hm? Anyway, please continue." Marie filed that bit of information away, though. _Could be good to remember, who knows. _

Once the secretary settles herself in her chair again, she obliges the request. "You see, in this firm, Ms. Lunastra insists on involvement of the support staff. Which isn't as grand as it sounds. Solely the company with the name Solid Structures is made up of just me, Maggie at the reception and two clerks, student workers who help out when they have the time." She shrugs again, "The rest, law concerns, notaries and all the managing a company of this financial size requires, she either does herself, or delegates to outside companies." turns her monitor toward Marie and shows her a chart of the interconnected subsidiaries, firms and offices, counting near a hundred individual company names.

"The most important parts of this whole endeavor, though, the actual construction of our buildings, is done by site-local firms. There are a lot going around in this big city. Added to that, the facilities, respectively machines, that those construction companies use are manufactured in two of City's main engineering plants." Taking a sip from her cup and taking a breath, she continues

"All businesses from that list have offices in this building. Every single one of them, including one of the plants, is owned by Ms. Lunastra, but at the same time, each one of these branching firms are free to work with other enterprises as well, as long as they keep up with our contracts. As such, they are all registered as their own respective company."

Looking slightly sheepish, "And now that I went off on how this company works," scratching the back of her head apologetically, "on to answer your question." and settles herself upright again. "As to why she makes it this complicated, I can't answer, because I simply don't know. Ms. Lunastra is very open about everything, answering any question the staff might have, but none of us found it necessary to question her about these things."

Shrugging once more "You probably know how it is. It's just something that doesn't come up in your workday and in that, we do have enough work to occupy our day, even with delegating between offices. But this open-for**-**everyone approach seems to attract outside companies. We have a lot of companies, mostly smaller ones, asking to participate in this arrangement. The larger businesses seem to be wary of it, but occasionally a big name comes knocking on our doors as well."

_This big a business and it's only 5 main people? And she does __**this**__ much on her own? Talk about having no personal life._"I..see. So back to your boss herself. You say she's approachable, a bit eccentric and, obviously, quite good at her business. Where does the confidence in her, earlier, come from? What about a personal view of her?"

"She mostly keeps to herself about personal things, going so far as to being unreachable by any one of us when she's away and doesn't specify a way to contact her. Still, she makes a point of subtly making people realizes that she would answer any question, if asked. Without outright telling anyone, though. She never hesitated to answer anything so far. Despite being that approachable we, the staff and even the clients, keep to business related topics, or just superficially personal talk, but...well, which employee goes out of their way to ask their boss about personal issues?" A shrug is all the secretary adds to that.

"She cares for her workers, though, again, mostly on a professional level. I have, however, heard she supported a few of them when they had private issues and it happened to come to her attention. Nothing so far in my time here. I hope that's because we're just that well off." The woman's youth showing in her grin.

Marie notices the other woman struggling about saying something and after a moment the secretary reveals "Maybe that's not something to say about one's superior so leisurely, especially not but sometimes...sometimes she seems as young as a little girl. Which is kind of weird for me to say, I see the irony, but, at times, like when she forgets to wipe her milk beard...it had the whole staff of all companies talking, because her reaction to it was just so..human. I mean that in contrast to what people expect of a head of a company this size. Other times, she gets excited about all kinds of little things, taking them in with childish glee." Stifling a chuckle at that, she quickly regains her composure.

"Yet, at other times, she seems old and wise, as if she'd lived through generations. For example changing the outcome of seemingly lost deals by just talking to the client, without altering our offer. As I mentioned, we, as the staff, are at meetings like those, but...usually we're just as surprised about the turnabout of negotiations as our client." She takes a deep breath, shaking herself out of a memory of such an incident.

"All this considered, there is a surprising lack of talk behind Ms. Lunastra's back. You would think that people wouldn't stop talking about the curious behavior of their boss. But it is almost as if she...how should I say this..

Marie tries to imagine the face she saw on her computer earlier, looking around in childlike innocence or, as she thinks it must look like, a motherly figure, basically talking clients out of their money. Despite her knowledge of just about every type of personality, she is unable to grasp either concept for the woman.

Shaking herself from those thoughts, she decides to reveal the reason for her visit. "Though you still haven't gotten to the point to tell me where your trust comes from, or maybe even more so because you didn't yet, I'd like to ask what you think when I tell you our computers say she's been born in Settlement 1?"

For the first time since they started talking, the secretary seems really surprised. "That..." Marie can almost see the mind working. "I see, that's why you're asking about her."

After another short pause, the secretary smiles fondly "I would actually believe it." The smile turns to a smirk, as she finally regards Marie again "But, seeing how that's not possible, I would blame it on a computer glitch." She shrugs at her pragmatic guess. "Especially when you think of how long so much data has been stored in the central computers already, I would think it's a fairly common occurrence, but, guessing from your visit, I suppose such a thing doesn't usually happen."

Marie keeps quiet, partly because she tries to evaluate if the other woman's reaction is genuine and partly because she can see the secretary pondering another moment on the topic. Confirming that, her opposite adds "I am really not very knowledgeable about these kind of things, but never mind how much they're fostering the systems, it had to happen someday, don't you think? All commonplace computers have some kind of hiccup from time to time, even with today's technology. From my limited perspective, I would go so far as to say it's inevitable."

_If what she's saying is true, I suppose she doesn't hear much gossip, simply because there isn't any. Which is very odd in itself. _Getting up, Marie takes her empty cup to the sink. _I guess that's it for now, from. Still, she didn't answer my question about her trust. Will have to keep an eye on this one, then. _The other woman, who thanks her for that, has yet to touch her own drink again.

Marie turns back to the desk, a hand on the backrest of the chair she just occupied. "Well then, we will need to determine what exactly and how it happened. For now, I thank you for your time." And, with a handshake, she bids her farewell.

She only gets as far as to the door, the secretary calling out to her "Captain. I know, in its basic concept, how the registry to enter birth places and such data works, hence I realize why you think there might, or rather must be manipulation." Hesitating on getting out what she wants to say, it takes her a moment, before she firmly regards the Captain again. "I am quite certain, though, that Ms. Lunastra very much holds honesty in high regards. She will go as far as ending negotiations or even terminate running contracts, no matter how profitable. It hasn't happened often, yet, but I saw it once and heard of it happening a very few times before. If a client is not completely honest with her, she will, with blatantly telling them the reason, end their business relationship." Shaking her head, she concludes "I just can't see a reason for her to go to through all the trouble necessary to make this kind of manipulation happen. She has nothing to hide, I'm confident in saying that." Swaying a bit in her confidence, she adds with a grin "Well, nothing improper, anyhow. Everyone has secrets."

Marie scrutinizes the other woman for a good minute. She can see that the secretary does believe what she says. _Huh, what to make of that... I will have to see when I meet the person herself, won't I?_ "I thank you for your honesty and time. Good day." Marie leaves, slightly puzzled by the secretary's need to point out that last bit. Rarely did an employee talk this enthusiastically about their employer and company.

Thinking about the scale of work this CEO has to deal with on a daily basis made her head spin. Good thing she sits in the transport tube already, on her way to the person now occupying her thoughts, she formulates a basic plan on how to approach this woman.

Plans, however, don't always work out the way they should.


	5. Chapter 5

Arriving at the living quarters of the person of interest, Marie takes the elevator to the top floor. The corridor leading from the elevator to the door is open on one side, so there is quite a draft, albeit very comfortable and warm air, and her coat flows around a bit. Going over her approach again in her head, she sounds the chime at the door. _The woman isn't yet accused of anything, despite the uniqueness of the occurrence for which I'm here, so it wouldn't do to make it seem for her to try and barge in for an interrogation. _

For a stretching moment, nothing happens, not even a sound from the inside of someone moving._ Well, as I thought, she might just not be home._ Marie thinks and chimes looks out over the adjacent street and buildings. _Or, maybe she ditched her life here, the vacation just a deception. Making it all the more difficult to find out what's going on. _The stillness continues, as Marie turns back to the door, cocking her head slightly.

_What was the saying again? Third time's the charm?_ So done, it finally provokes an audible response - a muffled, surprised "Wha-" and a loud thump as if something heavy fell on the floor. _Oh, so she _is_ home. Good. _Marie raises an eyebrow and listens to some more shuffling and, after a moment, a second thump, combined with the clinking of glass colliding. Hearing a hissed "Ow!", Marie winces in sympathy. _Maybe not so good? We're off to a great start here..._

The shuffling appears to close in on the door and, after another second of silence, it opens in front and a sleepy, scratch, deep female voice reaches her, before she can see the person it originates from "Hello. Please excuse what you likely just heard. How may I hel..p...you..." The voice trails off.

_She really does not hide anything._

Being a trained policewoman, combined with years of experience, Marie notices a few things at once. First, contrary to what she expected, she isn't greeted with a face, but a cleavage. A milky_-_white (_Thank you, miss secretary. I think I get it now.) _cleavage, with its forming chest hidden merely by a long, white, unbuttoned shirt, that, thanks to the breeze up here, opened slightly. Well, quite a bit. _Not enough._ Offering a view on something shiny, reflecting the sun in all its colors. It makes her look up almost instantly.

There she notices the surprised look on the tall woman's face, narrow, sleepy eyes growing ever so slowly wider. Crystal clear, almost golden eyes, sitting in a very feminine, diamond shaped face, framed by a ruffled mass of silky black hair. For a moment, Marie feels almost as if she's looking at a painting of a creature out of a fairytale, the sunlight shining directly onto their position tints the initially black hair in a multitude of different colors.

For a second, so short it might not even have happened, it turned turquoise slowly flowing into a blue tone along its length, further still becoming lilac to finally end somewhere out of her current field of vision. Marie later blames the strange reflection from the ches-from before for this play of colors.

Last, but not least, she notices the door being pulled shut in her face with a loud bang.

Stunned at what just happened, Marie tries to sort her thoughts to form words, in a meaningful succession, that a human mind may understand.

_Wow._

"That's as good as anything, I guess." she mutters. Clearing her throat, she turns to the sun, ruffles her shoulder length, brown hair, closes her eyes (_Bad idea. That image..._) and takes a deep breath. After holding it for a second, she lets go of it. "Boy..Here we go." Turning to the door again, she chimes for the fourth time.

–

Marie is unsure of how much time passed since the door opened, but it was clearly enough for the other woman to regain her composure. And some form of wardrobe. Clad in a dressing gown, the now calm, strong voice says: "I am terribly sorry about what just happened." She bows her head apologetically, showing a dazzling smile "It is just...you, Miss, remind me so strongly of someone I...never mind that." Straightening herself up, the tall woman gestures for Marie to enter, and emphasizes the point "Please, do come in. I will just be a minute to dress myself more properly."

Marie regards her opposite with a skeptical look. _She invites a stranger, whom she just freaked out about, into her apartment, without even asking for a name or the purpose of their visit? _

The smile on the other woman grows, stopping any of Marie's thoughts. "Oh, it is fine." She gets told, which only confuses her more. "That is, do not be surprised. Your thoughts just now were very easy to read from the expression on your face. And I thank you for the concern, but it is not necessary.."

_My...? This is not good. Get your act together!_ "Right. Sorry for intruding, I guess. And sorry for..." she trails off as she walks further inside, watching the swaying backside of the other woman retreating around the corner at the end of the entrance corridor, apparently up a flight of stairs, going by the sound of the footsteps.

"You certainly have nothing to apologize about. It was me, after all, who behaved irrationally, closing the door so harshly." the voice says from has Marie stop on her way further into the abode. She turns around to the doorway the other woman entered, one eyebrow of hers makes its way up her forehead. _That's what she's worried about? Everyone would've done that in a situation...with...without any...Oh god. _Stumbling over her thoughts, she forcibly shakes herself out of it and steps into what appears to be the living room.

The furniture, cupboards, plants and other assorted objects are neatly arranged, everything seemingly spotless. Which is why the large sofa with a large, used looking cushion, along with the slightly askew, low table and the open, bent book on the floor hinted at what happened at the first thump she heard. Having to hide a chuckle behind a cough, Marie looks around further. The tipped over glass on the dinner table, directly in front of the huge window, told the story about the second thump.

_How did she manage to stub her foot on the table all the way over there, when she was on the sofa at the other end of the room? It must've been those two things...everything else is still neatly arranged._ Using her mind to analyze situations usually calms her down, but in this case, there was a entirely too much amusement added to her professional observing.

Marie steps in front of a large shelf of printed books, all of them well read or even worn. _Good at her business, well-read and using formal speech. Very interesting combination, these days. Especially the paperback books. Science-fiction, crime and history. All about or even from earth. But not even one book related to business. Never seen that before, even in the most homely abode of any of the business types I've had to deal with. Every one of them had loads of reference books._

Noticing that neither the living room itself, nor any of the adjuring rooms feature a door, Marie, now curious, walks along all five of the such lacking door frames in the living room. In a clockwise direction of the main entrance, she finds that the one to the right side of the book shelf leads to the expected staircase upwards. Aware that the other woman is getting dressed in the room up there, she doesn't take too close a look. Still she can see what must be a rather large bedroom, framed by at least two window walls, as well as an entrance to an adjacent room. _No door there either, it seems._

The next passage on her level, to the left of the bookshelf, leads to a small room with two storage shelves, filled with trinkets. A third passage, opposite of the storage closet, connected by another window wall facing the main street a dozen stories down, opens to a corridor. Along it, the sight through a door frame to its left indicates a large kitchen area, while the room to the right appears to be a laundry. At the end of the corridor, another room opens up, this one also featuring three transparent walls, but from the limited view, no other distinguishing features. _This is quite a beautiful place to be, it seems. Light everywhere. _

Marie didn't think anything of it as she first entered the apartment, but now she realizes the door there to be something possibly significant. Before looking at the last unknown passage, she peeks through that door and laughs at herself. _Really now, what else did you expect? Good thing there's at least a door for that, even if it's open now. _she thinks and leaves the halfbath.

Lastly, she turns to the fifth passage. It leads to a corridor with another entrance to the dining area on the right and one more actual door in the left wall.

_It's shut. While everything else is so open._ Unconsciously, she simply stares at it for a moment. Equally without awareness, she starts walking closer. In the back of her mind, which is now filled with a swirl of thoughts, none of which she can grasp fully, Marie feels as if something is drawing her to that door. For some reason feeling warmer, calmer – _Better_. _So..right. - _the closer she gets.

She jerks out of her trance, startled, as she hears the other woman returning to the living room.

Turning around, trying to shake off the strange feeling, she notices she stands in the living room just so, that she doesn't appear to be doing, whatever it was that was just about to happen. Looking around the entire apartment once more, the feeling almost entirely gone. As is the memory of the pull happening. _Well, I think I can now confirm the first missing info: marital status – single. _

"Now then." The other woman joins Marie in the living room, now formally dressed in a dark blue pants suit, she shakes hands with Marie, who has to look up to see the set of friendly, yellow eyes and a small smile. _Goodness, she's a whole head taller than me. Those legs must be... _Her thoughts wander away again and she realizes her eyes traveling down to the woman turning away, likely inviting her to follow. Though she doesn't process much, aside from what she's doing. _**Stop it!**_

At the very least, all thoughts of the strange door are now forgotten. And Marie manages to snap back to attention, just as she is addressed "Let us try this once more." the resident continues, clueless to Marie's thoughts. While seating herself in an arm chair, she gestures to the sofa for Marie. "Alright. How may I help you, Ma'am?"

Coughing once, she sits down and introduces herself and her purpose. "My name is Marie Castaneda, Captain Castaneda from District Security. To get further...misunderstandings out of the way: you are Ms. MU Lunastra, owner and CEO of Solid Structures, correct?"

Lunastra wears a friendly smile, now obviously completely in control of herself again. "That is correct, Captain. But, please, call me Mu." She makes herself a bit more comfortable. "What brings the police to visit me at my home, instead of visiting during businesses hours? It would have to be something personal then." Sighing, the other woman shakes her head. "Oh dear, my manners must have fled the door just then." Folding herself out of the seat again, she gets up and regards Marie. "Would you care for something to drink? I can offer you coffee, tea or plain water. Supposing an alcoholic beverage is out of the question."

_Déjà-vu, hm?_ Deciding on the spur of the moment, with a grin "A glass of milk, perhaps?" At which she receives a raised, pencil line thin eyebrow, a small smile and a curious look. Marie admits "I was at your company headquarters before I came here. Your secretary told me about it."

The smile gets a bit wider, the response follows after a second of silent regard "I see. Taking a shortcut to my respect, yes? Working the suspect, is it?" The mass of now smooth black hair waves around her head and along her entire back, as she shakes her head, the smile still in its place. "Just a moment then, please." Chuckling quietly, she walks to the kitchen area and vanishes out of Marie's sight.

Not a minute later, Marie hears a squeaking, mixed with a grinding sound, making her wonder what her host was doing. After a bit more shuffling, the scent of coffee hits her nose. Very much unlike any she ever smelled before, but distinctly coffee nonetheless. Taking a deep breath of the mouthwatering aroma, Marie has her eyes closed before she realizes. Opening them again, wearing a blissful expression, she barely restrains herself from flinching, as the other woman stands in the door frame, a cup in either hand, watching her.

"The human character is easy to read especially in personal environments, even if they are not their own." She saunters over to the seats and winks to Marie "Added to that, customs and habits of mankind tend to stay the way they have always been, which makes preconceptions applicable amazingly often. As such, I guessed you, as a member of the police, would prefer coffee over most things."

The tall woman gestures toward her bookshelf, as if to emphasize her point. "That gaining my respect on your own, sans strokes on egos. Some say I read too much," she points to the shelf with the crime novels "but look how convenient it is to know the right things to apply now." Walking over to Marie's seat, she holds out the cup for her to take.

Instead of grabbing it and gulping down the delicious smelling brown liquid, as she would love to do right now, Marie restrains herself, eyes the cup, then the smiling woman and says "That's an interesting view, Miss. And yes, that coffee does seem appealing. Almost as if it's a bribe, along with the play for time, hm?" Despite saying that, she takes the cup and discreetly tries to take a deep breath of the aroma, not noticing the growing grin of her host, before taking a sip and really having to concentrate not to let the blissful sigh escape aloud.

"My, my." Now smiling brightly, Lunastra reminds Marie "Remember, I do not even know yet, what I would have to bribe you for. But if a mere cup of coffee is sufficient to turn you away from my misdeed, it cannot be that bad." and seats herself in the armchair once again.

Marie chuckles, and holds up the cup "Oh, there's a world of a difference between a mere cup of coffee and this." pointing at it. Sobering up her mood, she sits up straight and regards the other woman seriously. "As good as this is, we should get to the topic, so I will not hold you up longer than necessary." In a last moment of friendly banter, she she winks at the other woman "Sorry, but bribes won't work."

With a chuckle, Lunastra now sits herself formally as well, still sipping on her mug. "Very well. I am glad you like it nonetheless. Please, ask your questions." The full smile dims to a modest, formal one, but doesn't subtract from the wearer's charm. _Combined with all that happened in the last twenty minutes, this is heading in a very bad direction. Focus, Castaneda, __**focus.**_ Drinking the last of her coffee with a hint of regret, she puts her cup on the table between them. She improvises on where to go with her questions in lieu of her original plan, which, by now, escaped her beyond recovery.

_Start at the basics, then. _"How long are you running Solid Structures already? It's seems to have been around before you went on record as the CEO, but there is no previous owner listed. And I could not find much about what they did, before your entry into business. Granted, it wasn't that far reaching back then, but that's strange nonetheless."

"Quite right, it did grow a bit since it changed hands. As for the previous owner..." She trails off. Lunastra regards Marie with a strange, somehow hopeful expression for nearly a minute, Marie herself remains quiet, increasingly curious about what will happen. Taking a deep breath, the other woman seems to resolve some kind of inner struggle, closing her eyes, expelling the breath she held. "If I may be so bold, would you mind if I ask, straight to the point, what really brings you here, what made me a person of interest to the police?"


	6. Chapter 6

Equally, Marie now scrutinizes Lunastra, looking for any kind of hint as to where she's headed with her request. Really curious now, she probes "And why would you need to know that, to answer the question?"

Another brief pause. "Before I entered any kind of business arrangements with the company, then already established as Solid Structures, I was involved with a wide range of different ventures. My main interest was in biological research. It was a private interest, so I did not bother to try for funding through outside sources. If it returned results beneficial to others, I would, depending on what it was that I might have found, use it for further funding, or donate, if vital to others."

She halts in her elaboration for a second. "I am diverging from the point. My apologies." Yet another pause. Marie notices Lunastra growing increasingly uneasy. _Feels like she's going to reveal something big here. Now what did I catch myself here? _She thinks, unable to help herself becoming excited, when the other woman continues"Regardless, that means I used other projects to accumulate money with which I supported my research."

Suddenly, the minute, almost unnoticeable fidgeting from the tall woman stops, the uneasiness vanished and a calm, unreadable face replaces the uncertainty. _Business mode, hm? Usually that means trying to hide something. _"The research I performed had the goal of curing, or at the very least explaining a genetic defect I have since birth." She lets that hang in the air, obviously to give Marie time to process it.

_That is rather big. Genetic defect? Nothing wrong with that body, as you proved earlier... _Coughing to hide her shaking the sudden flush off her face, she regains control of her thoughts. _Right. Anyway, how would you have a defect with prenatal diagnosis used and cures for nearly all genetically and cellular influential diseases available for..nearly forever now? But..._

The other woman doesn't seem to notice Marie fluster. At least she doesn't comment on it, instead she continues relating her story in a rather flat tone. "Apparently, my results were sound enough to some people that they approached me with other ideas. In all, with the help of several institutes and individuals, I progressed quite well, albeit not with what I was in search for."

Without focus, she takes another sip from her mug. Her hands, holding the mug, slowly return to their place, laying on her legs. With a shrug, she sighs, her small smile returns, making her almost sound and look relieved that she is able to talk about this. _Maybe she is. Depends on where she's heading with it. _"A few of my findings must have appealed to certain people in the right places, because one day I was approached by representatives of the company in question."

"Of course, at first, everything seemed legitimate. I entered talks with them, about funding they offered, facilities with apparently better equipment than mine, staff and other things. Of course, they wanted to use my results for their purposes, that went without saying." She tries for one more sip of her coffee, but it's empty. Putting the cup onto the table, she shows Marie a wry grin. _It really does make her look so much younger. _"I am loosing focus, hm? It is not a nice memory, as you may agree soon."

_We'll have to see about how believable it is first, won't we? For all I know you're pulling a big dud out of your fingers. Somehow, though, I have a feeling that is unlikely._ Marie keeps silent; she doesn't want to interrupt the flow the other woman seemingly found._ It looks as if it is hard enough for her to talk about it in the first place. _

"Not much later, I was shown around their facilities, complete with proper research laboratories, engaged and friendly staff, as well as respectable supervisors. There were even a few financial backers present. I was unsure of why they made such a show for only one additional mind to the think tank they already had. Scientists, especially the devoted ones, are usually a bit peculiar, to which I attributed the odd feeling I had. In the end, despite their operation giving me a slightly strange feeling, I could find no faults that would have made me decline their offer.

"Over the course of a few months, projects continued at an increased rate, as expected with more staff. Results, however, take longer to achieve than that. Still, I must have made an impression, significant enough to earn more of their trust. I was invited to observe, and if I was interested participate in, what they simply called Practical Application."

The seemingly much needed release of narration suddenly stops and Lunastra looks apprehensive to continue. Marie tries to encourage her "Well, so far all this sounds perfectly legit" _Well, except for your...illness? _she thinks, but doesn't miss a beat "and profitable for everyone involved, I'd say. Beneficial to some people, even, if you say you might find..might have shared findings."

A small pause, she waits for Lunastra to focus, to look at her again. When the other woman does, Marie asks directly. To her surprise, with feeling more than simple, professional compassion. "So, what happened?" _Hm..something about her makes me feel sympathy for her, before she even said anything._ She thinks to herself in the moments it takes for the other woman to come forth with more.

A flash of a memory of their initial meeting flies through her mind _Yeah, something's making you feel for her, alright...Keep your act together, woman! _Marie manages to keep herself from showing her internal cringe at her thoughts and her heartfelt encouragement manages to help Lunastra go on

"The research group I was introduced to was experimenting with genetic alteration to make the human body adapt to Nanomachine technologies. The purpose of which was to create a second layer of tissue on soldiers' bodies, modifying that to be able to change into an array of bio-mechanical suits. Resist aggressive fluids or process toxic air into clean oxygen, for example, and, hence the name of the company, or so they told me, the obligatory resistance to weaponry." She recounts, back to her controlled self.

"With development of this kind, it was easy to guess - but next to impossible to prove - they were somehow connected to the government. In which way, though, they did not bother to elaborate, when I confronted them with this." Before Marie can inquire on that, a held up hand signals there is more to come.

"Regardless, the problem with this were their methods. Now, you would likely assume they use tissue samples, since you have long since been able to reproduce entire organs and even found the means to animate them, without the necessity of implanting them first." Marie doesn't miss the slip of Lunastra saying _you_. She files it away in her mind, planning on inquiring on that later. Another memory of their first encounter flits through her thoughts. _That strange – beautiful – play of colors...this 'you'... _

Marie is used to take note of such little things, but, for now, focuses on the story she's being told. _The highlights of which are most likely next. _Lunastra's expression remains empty, but her eyes show the sadness she felt, and still feels. "Instead, they resorted to live tests. The mangled bodies told all the stories without so much a breath of a word. I wandered through rows of dead and dying; malformed, the only thing left they were capable of, barely, was breathing. A sound that haunted me for months."

She takes a deep breath, but doesn't stop "In hindsight, I registered, only vaguely, the personnel, scientists in pristine – almost sarcastic – white lab coats busying themselves with needling, prodding, dissecting...like there had never been any human aspect to their subjects." Shuddering slightly, she looks directly into Marie's eyes "What kind of person does it take for them to work on this?" almost pleading for an answer. She doesn't expect one, neither could Marie give her one, stunned by what she's hearing.

"Well..." After a moment's pause, Lunastra clears her throat. "That day...I will likely never forget it. I found the group had already adapted some of my findings to their project. They offered me budgets much beyond what I had to work with before, even more than when I was still working with them on legitimate topics. They even dared to offer me _freedom of research_, they called it. They emphasized that I would have access to any resource I deemed necessary."

"Before finding out about their primary interests, I was quite excited to see what they had to offer. The legit research even led me to discover the missing addition to the compound of the building material I developed." She releases a sigh that she seems to have held since the events took place. Marie can visually see the relief on her opposite. _Almost as if it's her first time, telling this to someone else._ "I suppose that was the only good thing to come out of the first dealings with the group. To this day, I cannot fathom what they saw in me that made them offer me access to..well, that. In any case, that same day I began to work towards ruining their business."

At that, Marie interrupts the other woman "You did what?" incredulous, "And you're admitting it as simple as that to a member of the police?" an eyebrow raising quickly. "You are aware that this, if it's what it sounds like, alone could make me take you into custody, right?"

That has Lunastra finally smiling again. "Yes, I am aware." She winks at Marie. "But I did not resort to methods going against the law. That would make me a hypocrite, no?" Shaking her head, she tries to reassure a still skeptic Marie. Lunastra stands up, walking halfway into her living-room. "I worked with many people, some very influential, along the years. Using those kinds of contacts, I put in every favor I was owed, used every bit of my experience in business dealings to decimate that company. Eventually I simply bought all that was remaining, which was hardly more than the Name itself."

"I was determined to turn that horrid thing into something good." Seemingly loosing focus on what she wants where she's standing, absentmindedly, she turns to look out of her window, sadness clearly showing in her eyes. "I did, however, lose any data on a potential cure I acquired, before it all ended. I have to guess they found the copies of my own research. How, though, I do not know. In the end, I was left with the perfected building material and used that to put the company in a good light. Not that anyone ever knew, before, what they were doing."

Apparently regaining her bearings, with a small smile, Lunastra produces a whole coffee pot from a cart behind the sofa, offering another cup to Marie. _When did she put that there? Was I that distracted with the first cup? Not good..._ Those thoughts don't stop Marie from being simply happy to accept the offer of another cup, but returned to her serious expression when she listens on.

"Well," Lunastra starts, as she pours herself a cup of milk and puts away the pots "that was a little more revealing than I ever had the intention to." She laughs wryly, sitting down again. "I suppose, if it came out like this, it was high time. I hope it answers parts of your questions, instead of raising too many more." She grins at Marie "Although I doubt it."


	7. Chapter 7

Contemplative silence settles between the two women. Marie briefly guesses Lunastra is only occupied with waiting for any reaction from herself, but she knows the swirl of thoughts, possibilities and doubts in her own mind will need a little while to form themselves into coherent thoughts, so that she can pass on as a decent answer. For a few minutes, she stares into her slowly cooling cup of so far untouched coffee.

_I cannot believe something like this went by our A.I. But still, this woman..those eyes.. _Marie thinks, replaying the narration in her head. She felt herself struggle not to soothingly caress the other woman, when she spoke of the mutilations. She even felt her heart skip at the helpless, compassionate look in the eyes in front of her, set an otherwise tightly controlled, stoic face. To the point of almost breaking it with the despaired look upon the question of who would be capable of those misdeeds. _Wherever that came from, it needs to go back there. _She tells herself.

_If she isn't some kind of incredible, natural actress, those expressions tell more than any inquiry into her sincerity I could try and pry out of her. _She firmly shoves away any unprofessional feelings that appear in her mind.

With a sigh, Marie finally takes a sip from her cup and, wincing slightly when she notices it has gone to waste in becoming cold. Clearing her throat, she regains the full attention of the other woman. "Quite elaborate, this story." She is still not quite sure how to approach all this, especially unwilling to reveal even a hint that she actually believes it. "Well, let's start with the most glaring of aspects in it to question. Why didn't you involve the authorities, if such atrocities were performed?"

Lunastra grins sheepishly. "While I do admit that I received a certain satisfaction out of involving myself in evicting these people from their positions, the main reason is simply that there would not have been much you could have done about it." She shrugs. "It was obvious, even before I looked deeper into the matter, that this was a financially very strong project. It had to have some very influential people involved."

"Keep in mind the involvement of government officials." A sigh escapes Lunastra. "I do not want to insinuate anything about you or your superiors by asking you how long you think it would have taken for orders to come down through the chain of command that would effectively end any investigation in the matter? Politics, Captain. There is very little you could have done. the remaining actions would have likely cost you, or rather the responsible party then, his or her employment."

"It's still a form of vigilantism." Marie reasons. "Which would be another good reason for me to take you to the station." She says, sounding less threatening than she would like to. "But, even when we set that aside, it still leaves the question of what happened with the bodies? Where did they come from in the first place? That alone, back then, would have given us a decent vantage point to look into this matter. And still does, if there is a reasonable answer." Marie hides her sigh inwardly _This is one big mess of strange happenings. _And her mind supplies _At least it's rapped in a nice, charming, beautiful...uh..oh, damn._

Lunastra shrugs at Marie's accusation. "I have never taken any action to acquire a competitive company that is outside of the bounds of the law. As I said, had I done anything illegal, this would have hardly made me any better than them." However, she returns to the mournful expression when she answers the question about the acquisition of test subjects "Military uniforms answer your question of the...subjects origins." she grinds out with almost a snarl. "They were either carting them in already injured - to the point of inability of service - or those who had been sent there when they had a minor medical incident to address."

"Under the guise of blood tests, they..." She trails off, obviously musing for a moment. "...they...had been immobilized, silenced and then used. That..that is what I had been told, but..." She cocks her head, her brows forming a deep frown "I do not know why I never thought about this before, but they would have had friends, family, colleagues, or at the very least superiors who would miss their presence, would they not? If the..subject was not in a severely incapacitated state, meaning they had the excuse of them dying of natural causes, they would certainly be expected to return at some point, yes?"

Marie notices that Lunastra is clinically analyzing the situation now, rather than being emotionally invested, like in her history relation. _That's a rather strange change. Could it be the scientist in her? The businesswoman again? _"But the conditions they were in when I saw them would have hardly permitted them to leave at any point in the future. Never mind that they would have known what was happening afterward." Her head cocks to the other side, "If it is to be assumed that the initially healthy would have never been allowed to leave with such knowledge, I would conclude two possibilities."

Having come to her own conclusions as well – under the assumption it is a true tale – while Lunastra talks, Marie still waits patiently for the other woman to relay her thoughts. She realizes that this is the possibility that the other woman might reveal, with her behavior as much as with words, that this turns out to be an elaborately fabricated story to hide something else.

Remaining silent, Marie listens intently for any telltale signs. "Those..subjects" Lunastra still hesitates over the choice of word and looks dismayed when following with "that could be explained, excused away..."She stops for a moment and shakes her head, the wry smile distorting her features in disgust again. "My goodness, listen to what I am saying. It does not feel right at all to say it like this, but this is how these thoughts came into my mind. I do hope you forgive the seeming lack of respect for what are victims of a crime."

"Well, if your grand story really is true, I guess finding the right words to describe it would be difficult for anyone. It's alright, I don't think less of you for it" She hadn't meant to say the last bit, but it slips out, before she can stop it and hides the resulting awkward flush of her cheeks behind a cough. _Where did that come from.._

It does earn her a bright smile, with a sincere "Thank you", though, so Marie isn't entirely unhappy that she said it. The moment is over and Lunastra proceeds to lay out her thoughts "Well, where was I? The problem with my assumption is that I do not know how many test subjects there were during the entire time the project ran. At the time I was introduced, there were two dozen research stations, almost all occupied by one body each. There is also the question if anyone lived through and on after all this." For a very short moment, her eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. It passes so quickly, that Marie can't even begin to ponder its meaning.

Lunastra continues seemingly unperturbed, "I do not know that." but to Marie's trained eye, she can't hide that she is beginning to be shaken up by her thoughts. "But, for the sake of finishing my thought, I assume that a part of the subjects lived. With that, we have the disposed of dying and, or so I propose, a number of survivors that were recruited by the governmental side of their operation. I believe that would have also provided the solution to the problem of relocating the surviving subjects. By simply issuing orders." By now, her narration turned to a low mumble, still audible enough to Marie. Her opposite looking at her, without seeing anything but the past.

"However..." Lunastra ponders the idea for another moment, her thoughts obviously not turning into a direction she likes. Her golden eyes widen with realization, focusing again on Marie. "...however, I cannot imagine there would have been no one to at least inquire on what I imagine would be a strange order, rather out of nowhere." Finally, Lunastra even starts fidgeting in her chair, showing just how much she is unsettled. "I should have thought about this earlier, made inquiries myself. Surely someone could have been found who found the situation odd."

"Hey, calm down!" Marie tries, forcing herself once more not to get up to comfort the other woman. Even though to the average observer, Lunastra would still be an example of calm, Marie clearly sees the signs of agitation. "First of all, this was just over 20 years ago..." Realizing the implication of that, Marie makes a mental note to ask her opposite about the time frame later.

Trying not to sound too much as if she's stumbling over a thought, she clears her throat and adds "so there wouldn't be anything you can do for them now." _Careful here, just don't say you believe her..._ "That said, this provides me with something to look into, possibly verifying the story's legitimacy. So, even though people – potentially – have suffered, at least now, if it all holds up, there is a way to do something about it."

Lunastra relaxes visibly, dismay still showing in her slumped back form. With a sigh, she forces herself to sit upright again. "I am sorry for behaving this way. During the time since it happened, though rarely, if it entered my mind again, I only reminded myself that it was over. Now, after a single talk about it with some, I realize I neglected the most important aspect, the sole reason why I did what I did."

"There is yet another problem. One which I did realize, even then. Even when saying that 'it is over'." Looking down, the sad expression returning to her face "A project such as this one does not just go away, the people involved do not just end their pursuits. Investors, even if they did not know the truth of what they were supporting, would want to see results in return or have their investment returned."

"In all likelihood I just delayed them. Hopefully annoyed them a while, but so far, I have not been able to find any of their former employees, nor traces of another company behaving similarly, indicating a new facility like that." She goes a little into detail, how she and her contacts – on whom, to Marie's notice, she doesn't elaborate – try to look out for a possible follow-up, even after all this time.

"It is highly improbable you will find any records of or hints at such a project ever existing, or even the company itself as it was." Finally, she manages a small smile again. An honest smile that has Marie pay close attention again, her thoughts jumbled on how to proceed with all this information later on. "As much as I believe to have made you even more suspicious of me, perhaps my realizing my failure gives a new direction of inquiry in the matter." Sheepishly, she glances at Marie "I am uncertain how to feel about my neglect, but I will do everything I can to support your endeavors into the matter."


	8. Chapter 8

Humming an absentminded agreement, Marie thinks over the given information. _If they did take and use these people, I don't think they'd have used only one..source. But it's a good start, something worth looking into. If only to see if there really is anything to her claims. _She shrugs internally _Well, anything more substantial than my wish to believe her. _Marie shakes that feeling away, concentrating on her professionalism again.

She settles on the the first of the questions remaining to be asked that comes to her mind "You have an extensive knowledge of medical research and economy systems, even though you're so young." Anything but certain, how to react to the woman's story.

Unexpectedly, her question elicits a blank stare from the other woman. "I...well, I..." Though only for a second, Lunastra's stumbling over her response immediately raises flags for Marie. _Well, well. What did I catch here? _ "I learned quickly, mostly by myself, studying the right subjects to gain results in my search and research. A little later, I enrolled in university courses. It was progress borne of necessity." Lunastra tilts her head slightly, her index finger tapping on her lower lip. "Come to think of it, academic credentials were never a topic. I always assumed they informed themselves about me, prior to any engagement."

_That's rather vague. Self educated? At the kind of level we're talking about? _Outwardly, Marie doesn't hint at her disbelief. She tries inconspicuously to search for a new position to seat herself in, winceing slightly. _Geez, I totally lost track of time. This is going to hurt tomorrow.._. Glancing up, she is met with an inquisitively raised eyebrow from the other woman.

_That obvious, huh? _To try and better hide further discomfort, she stands up and walks, gingerly, in turn looking around again to hide her rather slow progress, to the window. _Yeah, totally not obvious. _She groans inwardly, noticing the growing concern in the other woman's expression, reflected in the window in front of her. To prevent any possible inquiry on her limping, Marie asks "What would you say, if I tell you that the reason I'm here is that our computers list you as being born in mankind's first settlement on this planet, and thus currently at the age of – at the very least – 300 years? There is no mention of parents, no relatives, not even a specific date."

She receives an answer with a completely serious expression, without hesitation this time "That I kept my shape up quite well?" which turns into a wide grin when Marie turns around to the other woman again, raising an eyebrow. Seeing that her joke doesn't catch on as she hoped, Lunastra sighs and answers seriously.

"I would tell you what I gather you already know. It is an impossibility for such a thing to happen. I do know the relevant information is hardcoded into City's mainframe and thus not alterable." She shrugs and allows "At least not without significant difficulty and highly likely not without leaving behind evidence."

"As for parents and relatives...well, the falsified data doubtlessly includes those points as well, for reasons I cannot begin to think of. My parents are very much alive and healthy. Easier for you to reach, though, would be a relative. A cousin of mine is a respected researcher in botany, well on her way with the admirable goal to refurbish this bland city. Athana K. Daora at the Botanic Institute of City."

_So, for now, all that was just a ridiculous conspiracy theory mixed with her need to hide from a straightforward answer. She even says there will be no proof! This was supposed to be a short, easy visit. Maybe even an easy arrest... _Marie is not pleased with her reactions to some of the revelations provided to her over the course of her visit, despite not showing any of them in her demeanor. _But those eyes..._

She refrains from sighing deeply, like she wants to, instead focusing on what she got out of the other woman. _So that's one possible lead into a criminal organization's procuring of test subjects for their atrocious experiments on humans. A relative of the woman supposedly bringing down said organization. And, last but not least, a genius, studying topics that take years to even just understand, for herself and applying them on the fly. _

_And here I went ahead of myself and told the Commander it might just be nothing..._

Marie returns to her seat, thinking that she moved her legs enough, for the moment. "Do you have an idea" she forces herself not to let go of the pained groan wanting to escape as she sits down "if someone would want to go to all the trouble and risk inquiry from us, just to alter the files of one person? The group you're talking about, maybe it's a way for them to get to you, or for you to do something? Has there been any out of the ordinary contact within, say the last week?"

With a thoughtful expression, Lunastra thinks about it for a moment, then says "No such thing, I am afraid. While rare, I have done harsh things in business deals. Some of which a few people may even take offense in. However, I cannot see any of them risking such an endeavor, let alone try and gain anything out of my company with it. They are, after all, normal business types, not some form of mafia."

"The group, then..." She turns her thoughts toward the other possibility, pondering it for a moment "Well, they were interested in a few personal things about me I could never figure out why they would want to know, most of which I did not reveal. That seemed to be it, in those cases. They never showed any more interest in those topics later. It does not seem pertinent to this behavior, at the very least."

"If it was something done to unsettle me or put me in a position to make it easier for them to reach me – for example in prison, where I would likely be sent, if it was me who changed the information – it was not very effective." She smiles brightly at Marie "Your being here without a warrant to reveal the secrets of my home, clearly enjoying my offered beverage without prejudice, is lovely proof." Looking down, her face growing slightly flushed, she mutters "Pardon me, that was..." She trails off.

Marie bites her tongue, before she lets her thoughts slip out loud. _My thanks to you for showing me something nice to remember before..._ Instead, thoroughly ignoring the heat in her cheeks, she says "It's..fine, really. I appreciate the hospitality. It's not common, for people to offer so much, when the police is there to pay a visit." _Especially when it would make themselves more suspicious. Which, I have to remember, you are doing. _

"You are not talking about the coffee." Lunastra's bashful smile slips slightly. "But hiding these things and having them revealed if your interest in me...I...I mean my data...and its alteration...and..." She takes a deep breath "My apologies." and with wide eyes, she looks away from Marie, surprised at herself that she just said that, trying to continue normally.

Which has Marie needing to cover a smile forcing its way onto her features, when she notices the healthy shade of red on the other woman's cheeks. _I really should not enjoy seeing that... _"I am also aware that doing this makes me that much more suspicious. A sad thing, is it not, truth being mistrusted, because you have to expect to be lied to? I do hope to be able to prove my sincerity to you somehow, though."

Marie takes the opportunity to ask about the situation that shook her up slightly when she first entered Lunastra's home, not sure at all, why something as insignificant as a simple closed room makes its way back into her thoughts. "How about this, for a start: Your quarters are open to all sides, no doors, or if there not closed, anywhere, matching your alleged personality. Bright, forthright, inviting. Except for the one up that corridor." As she finishes, she instantly knows asking that to be the right direction. _I hope no one asks my why, though..._ She leaves it at that and waits for the other woman's reaction.


	9. Chapter 9

About two hours after her first ring of the doorbell, Marie returns to her desk in her office. Thirty minutes of which she has little recollection. Wandering around town, instead of using the tube, so lost in thought, she has no idea how she ended up in front of her offices again. She realizes that she must have walked in her daze, because of her legs now hurting nearly as bad as after her incident with the banker. _All the good work from Lunastra undone._ She sighs.

What she does remember, clearly, is the sudden apprehension of her suspect, upon receiving the question. The other woman's smile had vanished instantly, her expression turned completely unreadable. Making her way through the now rather empty halls leading to her desk, Marie tries to figure out what the sudden, complete change in demeanor might mean.

She hangs her coat on its place by her office door and walks over to the coffee dispenser. With the fresh brew, she seats herself behind her desk, groaning in delight at finally getting the weight off of her now uncomfortably aching legs. Marie handles her cup of coffee – so very worse compared the one she received in Lunastra's apartment – without paying attention to it. Absentmindedly, she takes a sip from it.

_It was as if...suddenly all the liveliness of that bright, inviting place vanished and...and physically tried to expel me. It literally was hard to move, especially under the scrutiny of those beautiful, piercing eyes. If my legs weren't bad already, they'd have certainly turned to jelly right then._ The memory of how even the suns hid behind a cloud on the otherwise clear sky at that instant, the apartment becoming decidedly unwelcoming, sends a shiver down her spine. _All that for..._

Seeing it again in her mind doesn't really help Marie to make sense of it. _Why be so standoffish about a stone? _She stares at her cup, as if it could give her all the answers she needs._ It was a stone, wasn't it? A quite big, almost a meter high, half that wide, egg-shaped stone. So much, almost tangible reluctance to unlock the door for it. What...what is going on?_

This time it's her turn to be startled out of her thoughts, when her colleague from the computer club, as most of her section calls it, enters her office. To his disappointment, she doesn't even spill a drop of the coffee, even though she jerks up at his knocking on the door frame. "Welcome back. How was it?" he starts right off.

"Um...Yeah, it was..it was..." almost slipping back into her thoughts, Marie eyes her cup again, then seats herself upright.

Before she can say more James quips "That's very informative, Miss Castaneda. No, please no more, that was far too detailed." he sighs and seats himself in the chair in front of the desk.

"Yes, well, sorry." Clearing her throat, she tries again "Ms. Lunastra was very open..." and fails miserably. Her "first impression" of the other woman enters her mind's eye again. Marie coughs and rephrases "I mean...very forthcoming, but didn't say anything much in the beginning." _Not that she had the chance to...not even knowing I'm with the police in the beginning. Oh boy, this'll be something I'll remember well. Not that I mind you..uh..mind, mind you. _

Her opposite regards her with a thick eyebrow rising up his forehead. "Marie, you're smirking. And drooling. You're creeping me out here." James breaks her thoughts. _Don't tell me I was right with my slip of the tongue..._

Marie literally shakes herself out of her reverie, forcing herself to concentrate. "Yeah..yeah, you're right, back on track. Don't know what's wrong with me, sorry." she smirks. "Anyway, to answer the question about how she got into and to the top of her company, she drops a story of governmental conspiracy, brutal experiments on humans and how she, single-handedly, brought the whole thing to a end. Or, as she amends, likely only a delay. Everything without evidence, of course. Though she did give me two possible leads to look into, when she _suddenly realized_ she missed something back then." Her sarcastic disbelief toward that given statement is easily read by her colleague.

"I then asked her directly about the altered data, which she, of course, simply doesn't know about and can't explain." Since she is really unsure if it actually happened – or if it did, she really doesn't feeling like sharing it with James, yet – Marie doesn't mention the last part of her visit. The fact that she doesn't know what exactly happened contributes to that decision.

She is, of course, not mentioning her nagging feeling that she can believe what the woman says, either. So she offers her impressions about the CEO herself from a factual, professional point of view "That said, all of this really does leave the impression she's got something to hide." Contemplating that for a moment, she adds "Why she'd go to such lengths as to fabricate such an elaborate, hard to believe story, though, or how she got it out as if she rehearsed a situation with the police, I can't tell yet. I'll have to see what those two leads get me. What about your end? Anything of interest?"

Eying her suspiciously, he reveals his findings "At first glance, it really does look like the company didn't exist in any physical form a little over 25 years ago. I dug a little deeper and found part of the name Solid Structures, registered to a then construction site on the outskirts of City. The full name of which was Solid Structures #21." He holds up his hands to forestall any comment from the sceptically looking Marie. "Not very imaginative, I know, but hey, they didn't want any attention, if we're going by what you're saying. That, they will have achieved nicely like this."

"However, now that you say conspiracy and experiments..." His excitement of the possible turn of events rises quickly. Marie laughs internally at his behavior _That's what happens when good men like him get confined in their offices doing clerical work. _"There is a slight inconsistency in the estate registry. It says the building on that lot was scheduled for demolition. Four days before the date, though, I found a record of a significant spike in energy consumption, only to have that vanish two days later."

"I dismissed that as the work of a demolition crew, maybe they needed heavier equipment or some such. A little while later, though, I found pictures of the estate. I asked about this specific lot on an Abandoned Building Club forum." He laughs "Imagine that. Looking at run down buildings as a hobby."

Thinking of such a club's activities, where the only _ruins_ left are on the very outskirts of City, some two hours away from the inner-city center, he continues "Still, good thing they exist, because they helped me by telling me the building stood for a good decade after the intended date of its demolition." He can see how he caught Marie's full attention with this news.

"The condition of the building didn't change within that time, which was something the club couldn't explain, as they had never seen any hint of activity in it or around it. No traffic through it and no constructions on the building, you know."

"The club members told me that, around thirty years ago, there was a project started, with the purpose to use a local mineral in the production of building materials. If we assume, and you confirm by asking, that this was Lunastra's first venture into this area, it at least corroborates that part of her story."

"Anyway, there were some problems with the materials, a small handful of the two dozen of different compounds in the first batches inexplicably turned brittle after a few months, bad enough that it collapses on itself. So they were quite surprised to find it still intact . But as I said, it stood there for almost ten years, untouched. And it at least explains the addition of #21 to its name." James projects his findings on a video screen let into the wall, which stays relatively empty, except for two pictures of the building and a digest of the forum communications with the club.

"Lunastra said she found the missing ingredient to her material with that group she mentioned with her conspiracy story." Marie turns back to her colleague, as the screen shows nothing of apparent interest. "With what you're saying, it looks as if either she knew it before, then built this," she points at the pictures "or the group itself applied it to the building during construction. Which would be a strange move, unless they didn't let the thing get built by any outside company, but used their own people, somehow managing to make the thing last."

Taking into account what James said a moment ago, she ventures a guess "Or, well, just used proven stuff and lie in the files. Wouldn't be out of this world for them, if Lunastra's story holds true...Geez, complicated connections here, don't you think?"

He nods in agreement, having come to the same conclusion. "The name, Solid Structures, itself was only connected to that one building, #21. Which was apparently raised, when? You guess it, not long before the time Lunastra claims they approached her." and adds with a shrug "Without definite proof, my guess would be that they took one of the experimental lots to do their thing in, or simply added one lot to the list. Who'd check, aside from the owner – whose time and attention you occupy with trying to get them, her in this case, to work with or for you."

"So, as you saw in the summary made by the A.I. search, the company certainly was around before Ms. Lunastra bought it. In name only. Thing is, there was no connection of its name to the other, presumably at least 20, sites. I don't know how many there were before or after, by whom, if at all, they were built, or what happened to them. A lot of data just missing or not recorded in the first place, who knows. All things that the good CEO will be able to answer, I guess."

Harrumphing a sort of agreement as she gets up to stretch her legs a bit, and to get a new coffee, Marie paces around in her office in thought. James watches movements her and notices she is walking quite a bit more strained than when she visited him in his office earlier in the day. With open concern, he asks "You alright, Marie? Your legs not working right from all the running around today? They're supposed to heal better by not using them, right?"

Marie stares at him blankly, not saying a word. In her mind she replays the minutes before she left M.U. Lunastra's apartment.

–

With a pounding heart, Marie waits for the tall woman to open the locked door. Not a single word was spoken since she requested to see what's hidden there. The reluctance from the other woman still radiating like something physical, making Marie feel she's being let in on something she should know. The warmth, rightness of before, when she first stepped into the corridor, returns. As the tall woman at her side sighs deeply, the door opens and reveals an egg-shaped stone.

Marie looks up at the other woman, but she can't see Lunastra's eyes, hidden behind a few tresses of her long hair. _Something feels off about the stone. As if it radiates warmth._ Marie starts to reach out, wanting, needing to touch the stone. She hears a sharp inhale to her left, turning her head, looking into shocked, almost teary golden eyes. As soon as she sees it, they return to a pointed, lazily narrow indifference. She notices she had her hand drawn back, holding it to her chest, her heart now. Despite the fact that she has no idea what is going on, she's rasping out a "Thank you...for showing me..." With another unidentifiable look from the other woman, the door closes in front of her again.

Suddenly her legs give out under her, but just as quickly she gets caught by two long, strong arms. "Are you alright, Captain?" A surprised face hovering over her, golden eyes showing concern. _Oh...beautiful._ "I...yeah, I'm alright. Just need to sit down a moment, I think." Marie answers, barely keeping herself from reaching out to touch the other woman's face. Suddenly being swooped up, she yelps lightly and looks up into a bright smile. Her dark cheeks flushing noticeably. "You don't have to..!" She tries, feeling the heat in her cheeks. But she gets cut off with a simple "Oh, shush." and a growing grin.

Gently she's being set down in her earlier seat. She notices the lack of effort it takes from the other woman to carry her around. As a distraction to her thoughts, she tries to explain "I didn't think this would act up now, of all times and places. You see, I've been shot at; my legs; with a stunner; just a few days ago." Righting herself in a decent seating position, she lets out an unsure laugh. "Thank you for catching me. Wouldn't have made a good impression; me hitting the floor, I mean." _Oh for the love of...I'm babbling like a little girl._

The other woman suddenly kneels down in front of her and lifts her leg. She pulls at the strings of Marie's shoes, pulls them and then the black socks underneath off . "What are you doing?" Marie asks with a shaky voice.

The hands working her feet free still, an amused, almost sparkling set of eyes and a caring smile look up to her "You take risks, get hurt for others. But you refuse to accept help, so no one takes the hurt away from you." Pointing to her bookshelf again, she says "I did tell you, it is very convenient to know certain behaviors are somewhat stereotypical. It might just be a normal, every day thing, to you, work that is, but there are people out there who appreciate your dedication. I would like to reciprocate the kindness." Lunastra stands up again, prevents Marie from following her example with a simple gesture of her hand "Please, be patient for a moment." and leaves the room, taking the stairs toward her bedroom.

Meanwhile, Marie sits stiffly, unmoving and quite flustered. Her thoughts are moving fast, neither going anywhere, nor containing anything for her to grasp at. When she hears the footsteps of the other woman returning, she tenses up and looks to the still gently smiling Lunastra, who carries a small can in her hand.

Again she kneels down and rolls up the legs of Marie's pants, whose intended protest – only slightly; solely so she is be able to tell herself she tried – ends up dying in her throat, when the other woman takes a bit of the green gel out of the can, onto her fingers and starts rubbing it on her lower leg. Any remaining thoughts she might have had make themselves scarce. Now she just stares at fascinating contrast of the milky-white, lithe, strong fingers spreading the salve on her own coffee brown skin.

"A stunner shot to the legs irritates the nerves, which then send false signals for your sense of balance. This salve works well in such cases, as in many others. The mind is the strongest medicine, and as such this is called fairy dust, to stimulate the fantasy for additional healing." Lunastra looks up again, smiling brightly. "It does have proper medicinal properties as well, though." The woman at her feet tells her, but Marie is only listening with half an ear, rather focused on the sensations.

It doesn't escape Marie's notice, though, that the other woman had a healthy red on her cheeks. That, in turn, only causes her own to grow even warmer. _This is bad..well, no this is nice...goodness... _

"Mmmh"

Hearing a chuckle, Marie realizes, to her growing embarrassment, the moan escaped her audibly.

When she feels the the leg tensing under her hands, guessing that it applies to the whole body, Lunastra reassures "Do not worry. Not a word of this will leave my apartment. My lips are sealed.", smiling brightly at a distinctly uncomfortable Marie.

A few minutes and another leg later, Lunastra stands up again and holds the can to Marie. "Please, take this and apply it to the upper thighs as well." It takes a moment, during which the other woman gives her instructions for the application of the salve, "Three more times this week, once a day, and you will be in perfect health again." but Marie finally realizes the implications of the first part. _Oh my goodness...if she'd done that..._ Her mind starts to wander wonderful places, but she firmly pulls herself back to reality. _Geez, get a grip!_

Clearing her throat, "I..this..." not quite achieving the same with her mind, Marie manages to respond almost normally "Thank you. I will do that." She puts on her shoes again and successfully stands up without swaying. She notices a definite improvement in her stability. "Wow, that stuff is good." Looking at the still smiling Lunastra and then at her feet again. "Why didn't the hospital have something like this..." she mutters.

"It is a family recipe. I do not think many outsiders would know about it."

–

In wide-eyed fascination, James observes his colleague remembering something from her visit. Her facial expressions changing along. His eyes widening to saucers, as suddenly her face flushes and a silly grin makes his way onto the woman's features. "Whoa, hey, Marie, come back from wherever you are!"

"What?" She blinks at him uncertainly. But reality catches up and she realizes what must have happened "Oh. Oh! Yeah, of course." She turns away from him, clearing her throat and finally operating the machine to get her coffee. "You want some too, James?" she asks.

Very casually so, but hardly fooling her friend. Eying her suspiciously, he accepts. "What was that all about? You alright? Something happened during your visit?"

"No, it's alright." She waves off his concern. "I stumbled a bit while there, which was just a bit embarrassing." Still somewhat absentminded, she grabs one of the cups and takes a sip. Ow! Hot!" she burns her tongue on the coffee.

"Uh-huh, sure." Clearly unimpressed by her attempts at diversion, James relents, knowing he won't get much out of her, when she doesn't want to talk. Still, he can't keep himself from adding "If you say so." for which he receives a dirty look. "Oh-kay, lets leave it at that then..."

"Don't say it like that." Marie hands him the other cup of coffee and seats herself behind her desk again. "Really, nothing but a slight case of jelly knee. So, where were we?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Yes, you were not answering my question about your health." James reminds her disapprovingly. "But, seeing how you wobbled your way around that, I'll let it go. Let's get back to missing names on construction sites and missing construction sites with a name on them."

He points at the screen again. "As I said, the company name was attributed to only one of the sites. I did find entries about two additional plots on which test buildings stood, but there is no mention of a constructor. The other, presumably 18 sites seem to have never existed. But your CEO will hopefully clear that up, seeing how they should be hers. All of this really looks like they thoroughly cleaned up all kinds of records, leaving behind only what they want us, Lunastra or whomever else to see."

Marie looks at him thoughtful and adds "Lunastra said the company, if only in name, was around before she met the group, albeit just a small business. If she's telling the truth, and you are right as well, the group spent quite some effort to get noticed by her specifically."

Sighing deeply, she leans over her desk on her elbows "This is annoying. So far, everything really does support the theory of a secret, if not necessarily government supported operation, that spent a lot of time and money to get the attention of one person." She looks at her colleague, clearly showing her distaste in the provided information "Decades later, after being unseen all the time, they draw attention to themselves by altering the personal data of that same person again, this time looking specifically for her attention, but involving the police instead."

An hour later, after looking over all their currently available data again and failing in trying to find new clues, Marie tells James she'll write up a first report for her commanding officer and then head home for the day. "You're going to stay a while longer anyway, aren't you? Could you try to to find out more about Lunastra herself? For example, she hesitated over my questioning her being so young, yet having so much experience in medical issues, as well as businesses."

"Lying about their age is nothing new for a woman." James interjects and receives a swat on the back of his head for it. "What? What did I do?"

"See if you can find anything about her education, loudmouth." Marie responds, packing her stuff. "I'm heading home, with a side trip to the park, stretching my legs a bit." With her back toward him, she misses the surprised, incredulous look James shoots her at that statement.

So she simply goes on, while putting on her jacket "To answer your question earlier, they heal much better when used, it's common sense." Of course, she doesn't let him in on the foot rub she received during an interview with a suspicious person. _I'd never hear the end of it. Not that it should have happened in the first place, but alas...I'm not complaining. Which, really, I should. _She sighs again. "To answer your second question, I am feeling much better, thank you. I was just getting a bit tired, that's all. Some fresh air will remedy that."

With that, Marie leaves her office and James gets up to return to his own. He turns to look at her receding back, still very puzzled. _The park? Now I'm certain something's up. She never goes to the park. "Fresh air"... The strangeness never ending today._ With that thought, and a smile, he walks to his office.

On her way out, Marie runs into her superior. "Hello, sir." she greets, hoping she gets off with only a short exchange.

"Heading out, Castaneda? So how did your investigation turn out? A condition for you going was a report today, remember." he tells her with an amused face.

Unprepared as to what she wants to tell him, because of her slight confusion at her current course of action. She feels grateful that her colleague wasn't able to see her face as she told him about it in her office. _The park._ _Where the heck did that come from? But it's kind of a nice idea, so...might as well. _Almost lost in thought, staring silently at her Commander just a second longer than necessary. _Appropriate?_ _Speak words, woman! _"Yes, sir, I was heading out to move the legs a bit more. I'm feeling much better now thanks to...uh.. The report; I'll write it in the park; where I'm headed; to walk. Sir." _Smooth. What is wrong with you today? _She growls at herself.

Looking at his subordinate with a raised eyebrow, the Commander asks, or rather subtly demands "Would you like to share a short summary of your interview?"

As she fills him in on what she and James found so far and what questions it raised, her commander gets increasingly more concerned. "A government project experimenting on living humans? That is more than just a bold claim. Sounds to me, like she is trying to avoid the subject."

"Yes, it certainly is quite a story. A few pointers here and there, though, actually make it at least sound possible. At the very least, James found some irregularities in use of energy and location, matching the time frame. Records of which were removed." With a frustrated sigh, she shakes her head.

"So far, nothing points at Lunastra having done anything against the law. Granted, I'm only just beginning to get into this, considering how much she threw on the table with her story. Still, for now, if it turns out she is telling the truth, it rather looks like she's the 'victim', or target, or...well, that's also to be determined. There's reason enough for this specific conspiratorial organization to contact Lunastra, but it doesn't make sense yet, why they would have waited this long."

Out of nowhere, a picture of the closed door and the other woman's demeanor upon opening it flashes through her mind again. _What's with that thing. Almost makes me feel like it's...involved in all this. Instinct, premonition, whatever, don't tell me this is about a stone._

"Alright, lets hope this turns out to be a system error and a rather intricate coincidence." He forestalls a comment from Marie, a lopsided grin showing he is aware of the likelihood. "If it isn't, keep your guard up." He regards Marie seriously, being as obvious about it as he can, that he's making a point "People that resort to such methods don't have much to lose. You said the medic told you your legs would be completely fine again by the end of the week, right? It would be best if you take the weekend off."

Marie didn't expect this, but, even before she says anything, she knows protesting won't help. She's got to at least try, of course "But, sir-"

Only to get cut off "No taking chances on this. If my field-years taught me anything, it's to be strict in taking care of your subordinates. I know you won't like it, I've been there, but now I know better. So go home, rest. No work, come back fully recovered on Monday morning, just in case. I will have Captain Harwing working on the information until then."

"Yessir..." Defeated, hands in her jacket pocket, Marie leaves and heads out of the building. Still sulking a bit, she enters the transport tube, heading in the direction of Central Park.

The one place in City's Entertainment District, and only one other, much smaller park in the residential areas, with abundant greenery. Man-made landscapes on one half and purely natural growth on the other. The thought about finding a secluded space along the lake, hanging her feet in the cold water, raising her spirit again, after the dismissal from her boss. _Feet in the water..Seriously, what is it today? I haven't done that since I was at the academy! _Despite her internal grumbling and rather weak reluctance, she still feels a bit of anticipation. This turn of events confuses her slightly, nevertheless, barely five minutes later, she stands in front of the entrance to the park.

Completely baffled why she even does so.

A hint to that came in the form of another flashback to her visit earlier in the day.

–

The foot rub done, the gift of the salve accepted and, with quite some effort, soldiering on through the awkwardness, Marie ends her interview, feeling she found out all she can for now. Or, in her usual cases, more likely not having enough information to lever some more straight, and a little less far-fetched, answers out of her suspect. Sighing at that thought, while still being somewhat irritated that her insistent feeling of trustworthiness over the other woman remains, she bids her farewells.

"Well, I guess that's all for now." Marie says and, unconsciously scratching the back of her head in slight embarrassment, adds "Thank you..for..you know." She shrugs and smirks "Just don't think that will work any better as a bribe than the coffee, hm?" eliciting a bright smile from the other woman.

"I would not think so, no. I will, however, take the liberty to hope that you enjoyed it and, more importantly, that it will help you." She doesn't specify if by 'it's she means the coffee or the medicine and its application. It leaves Marie's thoughts dangerously close to wandering to other places once more.

She focuses again, as the momentary hesitation from Lunastra, which she did notice, ends "I also hope you will enjoy this later on as well." Before Marie realizes what happens, two of the long fingers that worked on her legs a short while ago, touch her forehead.

A strange, warm, welcome sensation enters her entire body and just as suddenly it vanishes. Marie finds herself quickly forgetting anything happened at all; the memory of any words or motions from the other woman dissipating like smoke, she shakes her head.

"What...will help me? Yes, of course." she mutters, thinking of the medicine. She misses the small smile appearing on the lips of the silently waiting woman in front of her. The haze in her mind finally clears and she continues without any recollection of the previous minute happening. "Yeah, I will use the salve, I can already feeling it working, so I'd be remiss not to. That said, back to business. Please stay within City limits and keep yourself available in case we have further questions."

At that, a fast change of expressions, from relief, to sadness, back to the small, nondescript smile, flashes over the face of Lunastra. Hiding her surprise about that, but certainly noting it mentally, Marie leaves the apartment with an array of emotions she, while being certain she shouldn't have, isn't quite so sure she doesn't want.

–

_What was that about? Did she...did she do something to me?_ Marie remembers something happening, but only a vague image of the other woman lifting her arm, looking at her and smiling. _More strange behavior by a strange person. Someone want to tell me what is going on? No? Well, damn..._ Suddenly, she realizes the passing people are looking at her strangely; some slightly amused. _I have not just been standing in the middle of the road, staring at a gate for minutes, have I? Oh boy..._

She ignores the glances and stares, looking ahead into the park area, she ponders _Might as well, since I'm already here, hm? What was it, dipping my feet in the lake? Oh, why not...sounds better than heading home, being bored. Or worse, continuing working on my reports. Not that I get around that. Ugh..._

Shouting out loud once in frustration, ruffling her hair, ignoring the now blatantly suspicious looks that earns her, Marie enters the park.

For a few minutes, she walks along the pathways, deeper into the completely overgrown area. The densely wooded entry area opens up to a wider field, allowing the view on a large lake. Marie expects to see a calming blue, framed by the green of trees and bushes, along with the colorful spots of the blossoming fauna.

She hasn't bothered to look at the time, and last remembers the scenery from visiting this place many years ago, so she is surprised by the vivid yellow and red spreading over the green of the landscape. An astonished "Oh..." escapes her, while taking in the play of colors with wide eyes. The park is designed so that the sunlight immerses the area in colors like it is on fire upon dusk. _Well, this alone made the trip worth it._

Remembering a secluded area from visits long ago, Marie tries to find it, hoping they haven't changed the park too much. She notices that she's forgetting about any troubles, physical or in her mind, and the increasing anticipation of finding her old spot at the lake. Slowly, the reason that had her come to this park in the first place escapes her, though.

She reaches the place she remembers, a secluded area along a small offshoot of the lake. The view into and out of the spot, in all directions but onto the lake itself, is protected by huge, fern-like plants. One leaf alone easily covers the entirety of the rock, which hangs out a few feet over the water surface.

Marie feels nostalgic, finding the old boulder still sitting in its place, seemingly untouched by time. She hesitates to act on her now quite strong wish to sit on it and let her feet soak in the water, feeling rather childish. _Kind of silly to do, but also silly not to. _Because of that, she looks around sheepishly, before taking off her shoes and socks. She seats herself on the edge of the rock. Finally, after struggling with herself a bit, she puts her legs in the water. _Whatever brought me out here, I'm grateful._

No five minutes later, it suddenly started to rain. _Oh! A cloudless shower!_ Marie halts in her attempt to get up to take shelter. She notices she's not getting wet. Aside from her legs, of course. Looking up, she sees a huge leaf, growing from a plant to her left, angled itself just right over the entire stone. "Huh..", with a shrug, she sits down again and takes in the atmosphere, until the shower dies down. _This is really nice._

A bit over a half hour later, Marie is on her way back home, now drowsy and satisfied with the day's end. _After all the ridiculousness, that was really soothing. Too bad I still have to write that damn report. No, no. No getting worked up after this. I really shouldn't look forward so much to remembering the details..the ones I need to leave out. Dammit. _Her cheeks heat up again, as the thought of a nondescript apartment door opening pops up in her mind once more. She sighs.

Marie leaves the park as she entered it. Another frustrated shout, ruffling her hair again. This time, however, she does so lighthearted, with a grin.


	11. Chapter 11

As soon as the police Captain left her apartment, Mu starts to pace around her apartment, preparing mentally for the call she will have to make now, trying to find something to occupy a few more seconds with. _Stalling for time, that is._

With a sigh, she ends her latest round through her rooms in front of her comm-unit, sitting on a small table near the bookshelf. Her finger hovers over the entry with the name of her cousin. _It is not like she will be surprised that I am not planning to visit home yet again, but she really will not like the reason for it._

Waiting for the other end to answer, Mu starts fidgeting. She just manages not to flinch when the connection finally establishes.

"Hey there, Mu." comes the greeting from the video screen, as soon as the small display shows the smiling face of Mu's cousin. It takes her only a moment of scrutinizing the other woman and Athana ventures "Judging by your face, you're calling to cancel visiting home tomorrow, hm?"

_Does it show that clearly? _Mu sighs yet again. "Quick as always." and shakes her head, showing her cousin an apologetic smile. "Yes, I am calling to tell you I will not be able to go. Please do believe me, though, I really did consider doing so. Planned for it, even. I am, however, not permitted to leave City." She waits for the inevitable expression of realization on her cousin's face, remaining quite herself.

"You're not...what? The police? What did you do? Everything was just fine at lunch!" Athana determines - bemused, indignant, just as Mu expected.

"It is alright. I did-"

Mu gets interrupted before she can explain herself "Did they finally visit you because you're looking like you're planning to steal that picture in the museum? Or did you do it already! Or..not that I think it's possible, but..don't tell me they found out...?"

"Please, calm down!" Mu actually raises her voice, which is the more likely reason Athana stops talking, looking surprised, rather than listening to what her cousin is saying.

"Now. Will you let me explain?" Mu looks sternly at her cousin, almost pouting.

"Alright, alright, yes." The other woman relents, defeated. "Don't want you getting angry at me."

"I will not get angry," Mu huffs "I merely want to explain myself to you. Or rather elaborate on it as much as I can, because I do not know much about what the policewoman came here to talk." With that, Mu relates the reason for the presence of a police captain to question her.

In favor of not complicating the whole thing too much, though, she doesn't mention that she related the happenings from years in the past. _No sense in having Athana worry about it again. As long as they stay in the past, of course..._ Of which she certainly can't be sure.

Neither does she mention a word about the more emotional moments the visit brought up. _That was very unlike me. _She shakes her head_ To touch another so freely, without asking their permission. Even going so far as manipulating her...What was I thinking? I do so hope she enjoyed it and did not make...things worse. Yet it did not feel wrong at all and she was not appalled. _and sighs. _I do not think I want to know what Athana would think about it, if I told her. Then again, maybe she can... _Seriously considering to ask her cousin for advice, she dismisses the notion purely on instinct. _No, I do not think it is a good idea to tell her. _

In all, that leaves her telling her cousin about the falsified data entries. "So they think you're some 300 years old, huh? Quite the compliment, don't you think?§ chuckling at that, Athana asks "So you're calling me to warn me they might show up here, right? Don't you worry, it's probably just a glitch in their system. We've been watching that for so long, wondering how it kept up without error, but it had to happen, without question." she repeats the theory Mu's secretary already thought of earlier.

"I am not worried, no. I did want to tell you they might visit you, though. Just so that you are prepared. Not that you have a problem talking your way out of anything, yes?" Mu remarks absentmindedly and receives a tongue sticking out at that.

Noticing a lack of a reaction, Athana asks "What's wrong? You okay?"

"They...She.." Looking anywhere but at the small screen, Mu struggles for words. "She saw...The policewoman. I...she asked why I had one door closed." She takes a deep breath. "And I showed her."

"Oh Mu..." Athana's features soften, knowing full well what her cousin is talking about. "Why did you do that?" She isn't quite sure how she feels about that revelation. _After all, she never did that before. _"You weren't under any obligation, you wouldn't have had to, you know?" Shaking her head, she doesn't wait for an answer _What's done is done... _and sighs "What did she say?"

"For some reason, I felt it was alright to show her. She seemed to know something was there, even before I showed her. She reacted to it. I saw her wanting to go to it, as if she was drawn to it. I don't think she realizes that I saw." Considerably relieved that her cousin doesn't seem to be angry, Mu stops her fidgeting and regards the small screen intently once more. "This is the first time that happened. What...what does that mean now? What exactly happened?" She asks, obviously confused, but now without distress by the thought of someone knowing about her secret. Or rather, just this someone.

_So that's why she's calling in the first place. _Athana thinks after gathering her thoughts again. Out loud she says "Oh boy, Mu. Now it really is time to visit home. You need to talk to your mother, she'll help you understand." _Such a child, sometimes. What are we going to do with you..._ "The sooner the better, obviously, but seeing how you're prevented from doing so at the moment, I'll see what I can do, when the..what was it you said? Captain?" At a nod from Mu, she continues "Yeah, when she comes here, I'll see if I can't get her to let you go home for two days or so. That should suffice. Of course, I won't be with you then, but you're a big girl, so you'll be fine."

Though she mostly trusts her instincts on reading people, just to be sure, Mu asks "You are not mad that I showed her? You, as well as I, know that I was not supposed to, until the time is right." Exasperated, she rolls her eyes "Not that mother ever elaborated on when that might be." and sighs. "You do know something about what happened, is that correct?"

"Of course I'm not mad. It's actually a good thing, you'll see, but not something for me to say anything about."_And it'll bring a whole lot of awkwardness to you, never mind complicate your whole situation. Nothing I want to be responsible for._ Athana thinks, smirking to Mu's surprise.

Before the latter can comment on it, Athana simply goes on "As close as we may be, that really is your mother's task. She'd be pretty upset if I did it, anyway. And I don't want the attention of an upset person from your close family, especially your mom, directed at me, thank you very much."

"Oh shush, we are not that bad. Father may be a bit louder sometimes, rarely, but that is all there is to it. Mother never was angry at any one of us. Not even you." Most of her unease shaken off, she laughs at the memories of a few of her cousin's antics when they were both still young. Her features settle in a fondly reminiscent smile.

Herself happy to see Mu smiling again, Athana adds with a smirk "Makes it all the more scary to think about what will happen in that case, don't you think?"

An indignant huff escapes Mu. "Do not make my mother seem worse than she is."

"What?" Utterly surprised, Athana can't believe what she just heard.

"What?" Mu repeats, unaware of what her cousin means. She mulls over what she just said. "Oh! No!" Realizing her words' meaning, she recoils, thoroughly embarrassed. "You know what I mean!" Mu says, her golden eyes in her bright red face darting every which way again, looking like she's making sure no one who isn't supposed to had heard her. "Now look what you did." She whispers, leaning conspiratorially close to the video screen. "Please do not tell her!" Athana, by now laughing wholeheartedly, finds herself unable to respond to the plight from her cousin, who looks at her like a little girl caught in the act of doing something wrong.

"Do not laugh so hard..." Mu pouts, only just managing to stop herself from smiling.

Wiping a tear away, Athana manages to calm down a bit. "I didn't even do anything, you know." Taking a deep breath, mostly to suppress more oncoming giggles, she finally gets herself together again. And smirks at her cousin. "You should feel better now, though, hm? That's worth suffering my presence, I hope."

Sighing deeply, Mu relents "Despite making a fool of myself, I do appreciate your being in City with me. It really makes some things easier." Smirking herself, she adds "Rarely." Trying at least this much to get back at Athana.

"Hey, always happy to help." Athana ignores Mu's jab on purpose, enjoying the hint of disappointment on her face. "So, all said and done, I will call you when I have been visited. For now, I wish you a good day still. Don't brood over your books all day again, hm?"

"Fine. I will eagerly await your call." not adding that she will also be excited to hear about the Captain. Certainly not telling her cousin the reason. Not that she really knows it herself. "Alright then, we will be speaking again soon. Good bye." With that, Mu ends the transmission and lets herself fall into her favorite armchair.

_That went better than I expected. But what does Athana know about what happened? She says this is a good thing, though... _Sighing yet again, she gets up to walk into her kitchen area, grabbing herself another glass of milk. _No point in thinking about it too much, I suppose. It will become clear, when I visit mother. _Standing in the same spot the police Captain occupied earlier, in front of her large window. She swirls the cup around, staring down onto the street without seeing anything.

_Come to think of it, it was just an impulsive decision and now it turns out to be a necessity. That in itself makes me feel bad about visiting already. I should not need a pretext, other than the wish to see my family. At least that wish is there, too._ Sighing again (_So much of that in one day.._), She turns around, walking over to her bookshelf to look for the book she started to read the day before.

A few hours later, while roaming through her apartment, searching for something to occupy her time with – something else than reading – she stops on front of her window once more. Looking out, she sees the setting suns and the mix of colors that produces in the atmosphere. Smiling, Mu thinks of the Captain and how nice it would be, if she liked her small present. Not at all – especially not with a flush on her cheeks – thinking of how nice the Captain would look, sitting at the lake, with her feet in the water, while the world around her is set ablaze. No, not at all. _Oh my..._


	12. Chapter 12 - Part 1

At the dawn of Friday morning, Marie wakes up early, as she usually does, despite not being a morning person. _So annoying, I don't wanna get up..._ Yawning, still half asleep, she tries to conjure the energy to stand up from her bed, but falls sideways on her cushion again, forcing herself to keep her eyes open. _Why can't I be a morning person...would make my life so much easier. _Trying again, she gets up and ruffles her already messy hair, so now it points every which way, yawning greatly once more. For a decent early start to the day, she takes a quick shower, thinking about the day ahead. _So I was ordered not to do any work today. Visiting someone to talk to counts as work, does it? Right, thought so. _

Mind set, now well enough awake thanks to the shower and a coffee - or two - Marie dresses herself in a comfortable tree-piece suit, complete with slightly loose tie, only marginally managing to tame her wildly out of shape, wiry hair into a fitting form. She sighs, the image in her mirror repeating the movement. _Well, this'll do..it's not like it will behave anyhow. _Not one to keep herself occupied long on dressing, she ventures out of her small, four-room apartment only a few minutes later.

No half hour later, standing at the exit of the transport tube to the station at the workplace address of Athana K. Daora, given to her by Lunastra the day before, Marie walks up to the front door of the governmental research building. _Stereotypes, she said. In that case, a__ren't scientists either mad bats, always in their labs or dreamily lost in their own worlds? I never had anything to do with them, but I won't do the generalizing. Lets see then..._

Arriving at the front desk, Marie asks how to find Ms. Daora, only to be told "You must be whom Ms. Daora expected." by the receptionist. _Guess that means Lunastra spoke to her yesterday. _She makes her way to the elevators, bumping shoulders left and right, as the building is teeming with lab-coated and civil people rushing about._ Not that I didn't know this could happen, but I still am surprised. _She leans against a handrail in the elevator, surprisingly nobody else riding with her. _Considering how self confident the woman was, I didn't expect her to either call for help or to alert her cousin like this. Good to know, though, I suppose. _

_Now to find out what they talked about. _She pushes herself off the wall and exits the elevator. Waiting for her is a guide, as she was told would happen at the reception desk. _It's like a maze in here...how do they even find their work place? How is it possible that we aren't running into anyone begging for directions, after being lost in here for a while? _Trying to cover the laugh escaping her ends up in a snort, which earns her a disapprovingly curious look from her guide.

After being led around several corridors, through even more security-lock doors, the two arrive in front of yet another closed door, behind which, she is told, the scientist she seeks works. Her guide leaves, after telling her to just use the chime, since the door would be locked.

Pushing the button, Marie tries to subdue the wave of memories and feelings from the day before returning, just managing to regain her composure before the door opens, revealing an elegantly clothed woman, covered in a white lab-coat. This family member is the same height as herself, so she looks directly into two crystal clear blue eyes and notices an eyebrow rising higher, the longer she remains silent. Letting out a breath she didn't realize she held – as dignified as such an endeavor is possible – Marie greets the woman. "Good morning. Ms. Daora, I assume?" with a handshake. _Good, no surprises. So far..._

"That's right." Marie is being let in and turns around, when she notices the door close behind her, audibly locking once more. "That makes you Captain Castaneda of District Security, yes?" Marie notices she is blatantly being scrutinized from head to toe, apparently passing whatever kind of inspection, if the approving look and nod of Daora is any indication. _What was that about?_ "I have been informed by my cousin to expect your visit. I hope that is not a problem. Then again, I believe you already thought this might happen, otherwise you'd have prevented it in some way."

Marie doesn't respond to that and after another moment of staring, the other woman beckons her to follow. The two of them walk through the laboratory room, along about six feet tall aisles made out of the construction material of Lunastra's company. Except these are now overgrown with all sorts of plants, almost resembling a greenhouse jungle. "So this is the research she mentioned you are working on. This is fascinating and quite beautiful. I can't imagine how it will look in City's main centers. I really like it."

"Thank you very much." Marie receives a bright smile with that. "It's hopefully going to help aesthetics as much as its main purpose, to produce cleaner, fresher air in this all too overgrown lump of buildings and facilities we call City. The city council seems to think so and thus backing us greatly. As you can see, we're very close to finishing the trial stages."

"An admirable goal and a strangely sensible decision of our government." Marie notes.

Stroking over a large leaf hanging into the room, Athana proclaims "But you're not here for my plants, are you, Captain." a statement, not a question. As such, she continues "I believe you're here to talk about the..hm..let's call it computer glitch, for now, in Mu's personal files."

"That is correct. There are a few inconsistencies not just in her personal, but also in her company's history." Thinking over how to proceed for a moment, Marie walks along the flora in the room. Well aware of the eyes watching her, she turns back to the scientist. "There seems to be a consensus between the people who know Ms. Lunastra at least a little closer, all saying it isn't likely or even thinkable for her to have anything to do with the alteration of her personal files." Putting this as just a statement, Marie hopes for Daora to reveal something new.

"If you get to know her better, which, under the circumstances, I really hope you will, you'll see what we're all on about." Marie furrows her brow at that. _Who would wish for their family member to have more detailed records with the police? _But before she can ask what circumstances those are, Daora, leaning on a table with her arms crossed, continues "Mu left her home quite early, but she knows well to keep on a straight path."

Athana sighs, looking at Marie apologetically "For now, I'm not able to elaborate on this. I am well aware this makes us all a bit more suspicious, but since we did not do anything wrong, I don't think it will turn out to be much of a problem." Emphasizing on points slightly with waves her hands, she handles a few of her flowers, as she speaks.

"But look at it this way, though I doubt you haven't yet, how would a successful company owner benefit from attracting attention of the police to herself?" Seeing no change in Marie's expression, she assumes the other woman already thought of this. "Keep in mind, that's years after her success started growing. I have never heard of such a thing, aside from stories in Mu's books. But then, let's assume it was that, what crime can be covered up by entering a wrong age, making you so much older than you should be – is possible to be, even – as well as deleting information about her family status?" Athana elaborates, her calm undisturbed.

"That is quite right." Marie concedes, having gone through the same train of thought with James the day before. "The fact still remains, it's a physical act to change data of that level in the mainframe." Waiting a second, Marie looks directly into Daora's eyes, almost startled by their clarity, but watching intently for a reaction nonetheless "Did you know your cousin was involved with a group of people, experimenting on live subjects, namely human bodies?"

For just a second, there is no change in expression from Daora, making Marie believe she's more than just processing that information, rather thinking of what to say already. Thinking back on it later on, she sees the other woman did the same as herself, looking for any signs. Now, though, Athana smiles. "Yes, I did know that. I was involved as well, in the aftermath at least. She told you how, or at least that she stomped their experiment site into the ground, didn't she? I was one of the many connections she used."

_Yes, Lunastra did say that completely casually...what a thing to just say. _Marie tries to probe for mismatching information about their vigilantism, or clues hinting at some kind of collusion at least between these two women, by repeating the question why they did not alert the authorities at the time.

She receives basically the same answer she got before, with Daora saying that Marie's colleagues at the time would've surely been prevented to do their work, possibly lost their employment or worse. "See, we went in and removed their entire operation within City. For how long is impossible to say, of course. But even if your people would have been able to make a few arrests, they'd just find new personnel. And with something like this, you'd never get to the actual puppeteers."

For a moment, Daora seems to deliberate about whether to continue or not. Finally she discloses "We've been monitoring the economy to search for hints of a similar project, ready to act on it if necessary, without any indications of such a thing happening again, so far."

Now that Marie remembers that conversation, she notices an oversight, probably caused by the significance and immediacy of the revelation. _Come to think of it, she said that she 'orked with many people along the years. But that was twenty years ago..and she had already worked around enough to build such strong contacts?And if she left her home early, I gather she didn't have many contacts then. Just how early did she start working, then? _

She makes a mental note to get James working on that front. But, since she's already here, she might as well see if plain asking tells her anything "Your cousin is quite experienced in economics, as well as biology, despite her age. Where did she receive education and how did she manage to get degrees so fast?"

With a smile and an expression that clearly shows Marie there's more hidden behind it, Athana gives her answer. "She's a quick study. Skipping grades and all that. She always was the brightest of all her siblings."

_How conveniently vague. But then, you're practically telling me you're hiding something. _ "So your cousin – highly educated in a time frame that makes saying astonishing an understatement – had been playing City's vigilante? And you're trying to tell me that isn't dangerous in itself? Never mind the fact that it's illegal, in general, but it's just stupid on such a scale." It slips out before she can stop it and much louder than she wanted to. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Flushing slightly, she apologizes for her outburst and wonders where the flare of anger came from.

Athana doesn't react to it, other than saying "It's alright. To the outsider it would certainly look to be a rather mindless thing to do." but Marie can clearly see the curiosity with which she's being regarded. _That woman is not one for hiding what she thinks, hm?_

"The chances of there being a danger to her person are slim." The scientist doesn't elaborate. Instead, she makes the situation even more complicated and plain weird for Marie. "Reasons, which you'll see sooner rather than later, I hope, other than just the fact that we acted on a public level of business rivalry. At the time, anyone with an interest could have watched it progress, but nobody bothered to look, because it's not as if anyone outside the two companies knew anything was out of the ordinary. There were no unlawful actions on our side, most of which should still be on record, but now that this happened, I suppose it's very possible for it all to be gone."

_Well, that's the most problematic part of this ordeal. Missing information, even some that shouldn't be possible to erase. _"If they were so untouchable from the outside, how did Ms. Lunastra manage to take down the project?" Marie asks.

"As you say, untouchable from the outside. She was invited in, so she had access. She also used all her available connections to get to the people involved."

"Threats?" Marie is surprised to find herself saddened at the thought that Lunastra would resort to such methods. But she's put at ease by Daora's response.

"Sometimes when dealing with her, you might actually believe she'd be able to do much worse." Athana grins, but sobers quickly "But no, no threats. The people not in the know were integrated into her own corporation. The rest had their work permits for inside of City revoked. And their unemployment coverage. They are most likely far off-world now, if things worked really well, they developed a conscience and settled down peacefully." she sighs "One can dream." Athana laughs without humor, a sad expression with the thoughts of what those kind of people might still be doing.

Marie decides to end this interview, not expecting any more, especially no clarifying answers from the scientist. _Guess I should be_ _starting to focus on the two leads from Lunastra._ _And here I hoped things would clear up a little... _Marie thinks, but says aloud "Sounds all neat and tidy, doesn't it? Everything about the..glitch, so far also points to that group as the most likely culprit. Unless we're yet unaware of another player in this whole thing, it raises the question as to why they try to direct the attention of the police towards what turned out to be their opponent from so long ago? Does it have something to do with the genetic defect your cousin mentioned?"

Now Daora looks really surprised and asks, wide-eyed "She...she told you..?"

"No specifics, no. Why? Do you see a connection there then?" Marie tries, surprised herself, because she didn't expect the woman to react to it like this. Now she's anticipating a hint to another lead. _Never give up too soon, right?_

"No...no, there can't be." The other woman looks uneasily at Marie, clearly realizing something. "They wouldn't know." Athana mumbles to herself, sunk in thought. Now it's her turn to miss the scrutiny of the other woman.

Marie takes a step forward. "What wouldn't they know?"

The words register with Daora, who now just looks at her blankly and after a second says flatly "About her problem, of course. As far as I'm aware, she never told anyone why she did the research, what her actual goal was."

_Did she let that slip unintentionally? Does she want me to know? _"And what might that goal be? What is this defect?" Marie now really intent, obviously having found something of worth. Unconsciously she takes another step forward, now just a few feet away from the other woman.

Marie, who didn't even flinch when a drunk held a gun in her face, feels herself inadvertently taking a step back at the sudden intensity of the presence of the woman in front of her. _What in the name of..._ With wide eyes, she notices she's being subjected to what is nearly a glare, but without malice in it, from Daora. Marie swallows hard against her dry mouth, resisting the confusing urge to stand at attention. Unable to arrange her thoughts, she initially misses the meaning of the words coming from the other woman. Mentally straining herself to force away the strange, suppressing feeling, she manages to focus again.

"I was going to try this more subtly, but now I see the better choice is to ask you directly." Daora says. _Now what?_ Marie thinks, swallowing hard once more. Athana notices the tenseness of Marie and draws back a little, apologizing with her hands held in front of her "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to act this way." She leans back onto the table again, wearily slumping slightly.

"It's just, I'm concerned about Mu, you know?" She lets out another humorless laugh "No, of course you don't know when nobody explains." Shaking her head, she regards a noticeably less strained, but much more confused Marie "Alright, I'm sorry. Again." Straightening herself up, Athana takes a deep breath. "I have to ask you to do something that goes against your profession and instinct therein. While it will mainly help Mu, it will also, with a little delay, allow us to cooperate better with you."

_Cooperate...better? What kind of crap is this? Am I being played here? _Back in control of herself, Marie asks icily "What is it you want?"

Athana hides the smirk she feels creeping into her features at the bristling of the other woman. "Would you be willing to let her leave City for two days, to visit her parents? Tomorrow?"


	13. Chapter 12 - Part 2

"Her...parents?" The rather anticlimactic conclusion to the most recent bout of strange behavior from her suspects has Marie furrowing her brows in confusion. _I should've contacted James before this interview..maybe he already found something about them. _The stray thought pulls her back out of the unease provoked by the other woman's behavior mere moments before. Lunastra's surprise over Marie's revelation about her parents comes back to mind. "Lunastra said they were hard to reach. They live outside City?" _There aren't so many villages around City that it would be hard to find anyone there. _"Regardless, what do they have to do with this?"

"Not easy to reach, yes, that's certainly true." While she's quite obviously musing over how to proceed, the scientist mumbles the conformations more to herself, than paying attention. "They aren't involved in anything related to your case. But Mu needs to know, before..." The frustrated sigh escaping the other woman puts quite an emphasis on the fact that she is hiding something from Marie. Resigned, she can only delve further into obscuring her point, raising suspicions with the police captain. "It's something that is in family hands to teach. As it turns out, we, all of Mu's close relatives, waited much too long. We were always thinking 'when the time is right'. It would have been a memorable, emotional event, but we never thought..." a brief pause, another sigh "This has just too many signs for things to possibly turn out badly. Nobody wants that, so I implore you...please, let her family take care of her."

Completely lost by now, Marie gives up "You do realize you're not making any kind of sense here, right?" Pacing along the flower filled walls, she turns toward the other woman in a sudden motion. "In front of a ranking police officer interviewing you?"_ I don't even feel like one anymore. More like a private investigator out of some novel._

The genuinely amused chuckle escaping the scientist grates on Marie's nerves. "Hard to miss, that. As I mentioned, this will help you in the long run. I even suspect Mu will come to you, seeking..help...For now, though, your currently plausible theories make me certain I'm right that she will need to clear up a few things."

"So now you're telling me you even have an idea as to what might be going on in my case?" Her composure slips away from Marie, her temper hacks its way through her patience, already worn down by the evasive and mysterious behavior of the two women. _And it hasn't even been two days! _"Why should I let any of this farce continue and not just lock you all up right now?" Her index finger points at Daora first and then at somewhere to her side, not even in a remote direction of where Lunastra might be found.

Her rising anger lets her step closer and closer to the other woman, accusingly counting, finger by finger, she lists off her points "Between you two, there's conspiracy to hide evidence, obstruction of and lying during an investigation, aiding and abetting...do you want me to go on?" Lest she can't resist her urge to shake the infuriatingly still shoulders in front of her, her arms tense up at her side. "And it's only the second interview on the second day since I found out!"

Sighing deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose, between her closed eyes, Marie takes a step back, holding up her hand to forestall any comments from Daora. "At least give me a hint, something on which I can base my believing you, not just out of sheer lunacy." Though still confused and angered, it doesn't escape Marie that she just implied – almost plainly stated, really – that she believes even parts of the story.

A pair of eyebrows rises quickly on the, up to now expressionless face of the other woman. Now clearly showing the intent on getting a word in, the scientist rises from her reclined position. Marie takes preventative action, poking the other woman in the chest and forging on, along the path she just opened. "Who knows why I feel like I can in the first place, with all those grand stories you two are dishing up!" Her hands waving around in a helpless gesture.

As if to emphasize her agitation, her hair had bristled along with the temper, loosing its barely held structure almost entirely. Given a final blow by Marie shaking her head and running both hands through it, it now points almost straight behind her. She takes one last attempt to recover her equilibrium, breathing deeply once more.

Marginally successful, her nearly whispered "Dammit.." only underlines her resignation. Looking up, her brown eyes meet unreadable blues, though she could swear she sees sympathy in them. _Oh that's just perfect.._ "Really, Ma'am, throw me a bone here, please. I realized it already, the improbability of Ms. Lunastra being the initiator of this rather small error, which is now exploding into one heck of a mess, but I have nothing to base it on. Facts!" Her right backhand slaps into her left palm. "It's what I make my living with, you know? I have higher-ups to convince, not to mention myself in the first place."

For what draws out into an almost uncomfortably long moment, the other woman only regards her silently. Thankfully, she appears to have decided not to comment on Marie's admission "You're right." and shrugs. "If I want your trust, or at least permission, I need to work for it, don't I?" Athana falls silent, humming along as she's thinking of how to approach the task of convincing a police officer. _It would be easy enough if she just tells me what's going on, but I have a feeling, I don't even want to know._

"The health issue we mentioned just now; as Mu already told you, she was looking for a cure at the time. However, the way things played out, mainly during your interview with her, it won't be necessary to find one anymore." Marie tries to interrupt, but Athana preempts the attempt. "Please, I can't tell you how your case figures into this. It is just not my place to talk about it. I'm already giving you more than I should, because I'm well aware it makes us look bad. I really want to elaborate more, really want you to you trust us, but I can't, yet. I'm sorry."

Sheepishly she lets her head hang slightly, scratching her neck. Athana tries once more "The thing is, even though she won't have to worry about the scientific aspect anymore, she has to know the implications of what might happen, if you..." at that, Athana cuts herself off. "Ah..in case..this situation progresses favorable for her."

She steamrolls over any attempt Marie may take to inquire further into that slip-up. "If I were to venture a guess at their goals, I would say they found some use in the more personal part of Mu's research. She lost her data back then, but it's entirely possible that it was them who took it."

Pondering this idea for a moment, she voices the details forming in her head "It would, to an extent, explain why it took so many years for them to act. But then there's the question of why they chose to involve the police. I think they intend to use them, specifically your superior and even more so you yourself to gain access. To what end and how.." she shrugs "Well, I suppose we need to wait and see, since it's unlikely you can just ask them."

For nearly five minutes, Marie just stares at, or rather through Daora. The other woman keeps quiet, giving the Captain the time she needs to weigh her options, evaluate if the pieces given to her suffice to dampen her need to investigate further. At least for the next few days. Since she spoke a lot, without saying much that makes sense without knowing specific details, Athana suspects the other woman attempts to find the hidden meanings between the spoken lines. She has no illusions that the Captain missed, ignores or even forgets her most recent bewildering behavior, but she has no idea how to explain herself without giving too much away of what isn't hers to tell.

Hearing herself wince slightly, Marie snaps out of her thoughts, regaining her bearings, she accuses Athana halfheartedly "This is ridiculous, you know?" and mutters "Completely and utterly..." She takes a deep breath, steadying herself, her standing around unmoving for this long taking a definite toll on her legs. _Should be better by now, but I guess after yesterday...Well, I'll live. _Pacing around the room as inconspicuous as such a thing is possible, she asks "What would happen if I say she has to stay?"

If there is any indication that the question fazes the other woman, she hides it well behind a moment of consideration. "If this whole thing really turns out to be nothing more than a computer error, nothing at all would happen. Nothing that can't be attended to later, at least."

The scientist suddenly turns serious, rather unexpected for Marie, as the tone of their interview had been rather lighthearted. At least from the other woman's side. "However, if it's interest from a third party, especially in a..let's say medical sense, which would mean they would want to get close to her – even physically – then..." She cuts off, her demeanor unchanging, it charges the silence between the two women with a sense of foreboding.

"Well, depending on what exactly they know and want, it could end up with Mu losing her...most valuable possession. Unique and irreplaceable." Athana's voice softening to a whisper as she loses focus for a moment. "So very fragile..." Marie's heart clenches, remembering a similar, though much stronger reaction from Lunastra the day before, as Athana's expression grows increasingly wistful with every word.

The only connection Marie can find between this narration and the feeling it evokes in her is the, for all its peculiarity, rather unremarkable oval stone, hidden away in a locked room on the other end of City. _This can't be about that stone, can it? What's with that thing? Is it worth a lot of money? Then again, that woman doesn't seem to care much about money itself, not to mention this mood of Daora, _as well_ as Lunastra yesterday. This just doesn't feel like it's about money. Or they should be in a play in the Entertainment District, making even more money with this good a performance..._

Marie would love to let herself fall into any kind of comfortable seat right now, but the laboratory, greenhouse or whatever one likes to call it, doesn't offer any places to sit. So she settles with leaning back against a table. Her eyes closed, a quiet groan escapes her at the motion. Finally, she relents "Fine, alright, don't ask me why I do this, but I will let her go." The distinct feeling that the other woman hides much more important things – and, of course, her profession – doesn't allow for her to just let them go like that. "Under one condition." Marie thus demands, pointing with her index finger.

The scientist seems to have expected this, considering the calm and unperturbed expression with which she asks "Oh, what would that be?"

"I will accompany her." any expression vanishes from Daora's face, though leaving her clearly unamused. Unexpectedly, Marie feels the need to explain herself, even if the reasons should be obvious to the other woman. _Perhaps she's against it for a different reason? Something I'm not supposed to see or know? Good. _"There has to be some kind of control for me, I can't just let a suspect, however marginal, go on pretense, only to find them gone a day later. Surely you understand."

Marie pays close attention to Doara's struggling to come to a decision. _What could be so bad that she has to think about letting me go? I can't even begin to imagine anymore, what with all the behaving strange and mysterious, vague phrases she used since I came here. It's really bad I'm not here in an official capacity, or I could just go without needing consent. But I need it, otherwise I can't make anything official out of it later._ Another thought sneaks into her mind._ If need be, of course. _She finds that the feeling of anticipation that arises with the thought is not entirely unwelcome.

After a minute or two, thoroughly thinking it over, Athana consents "Very well. I do understand that you can't just let her leave. That is, of course, if she'll still go once she knows. If she goes at all. She hasn't been home in a..a while, you know." The actual amount of years almost slips from Athana, barely catching herself. "I do think she believes me, when I said that she will get some uncertainties cleared up once she goes see her family. But you never know with her."

_And yet more of that. Well, questioning them directly doesn't seem to get me anywhere...So a vacation it is. _"So, concluding this whole clutter of half information and nondescript elaborations, the personal comments of which you certainly won't explain...?" Marie waits for a second, on the off chance an answer might be given. Nothing but an apologetic smirk forthcoming – _Of course not_ – she continues with a sigh "I will contact Ms. Lunastra and arrange for eventual departure."

She rights herself once more and, ignoring the strain she can clearly feel in her legs, walks the short distance to Doara, holding out her hand to shake the other. As an afterthought, she Will you be coming along?"

With a shake of her head, Athana says "No, I can't. I planned to, if she'd gone today, which seemed to be her plan yesterday. But my husband will return tomorrow. And it's been a while." she adds with a wink. "So I am left to hope you'll enjoy your trip. And get the answers you need to believe we're not some lunatics, out to make your life harder." now a genuine smirk in place, she manages to make Marie laugh._ Lunatics you are, but of the good kind or not..well, we'll see._

The women say their farewells, Marie leaving to meet with Ms. Lunastra once more. As she shuts the door of the lab behind her, she can hear a hum of words following her outside. It makes her stop and turn to look back, the cold, gray steel blocking her view. _Has she just..._ Shaking her head, she leaves through the hallways, this time without guidance, trying to decipher the whisper definitely.

"Please be careful and good luck to both of you."


	14. Chapter 13: Mu's side

Two figures cower on a rooftop across the street on which the Botanic Institute and its laboratories are situated, dressed in white military issue urban gear, making them nearly invisible on the identically colored building. One of the two observes the building through his visor, focused specifically the lab area of one Athana Daora,. "Receiving sound loud and clear. Confirming absence of subject for the coming two days. Recommend adjusting the plan accordingly. Ending transmission."

The other, silent figure starts packing up the few parts of equipment laying around, neatly arranging them in a bag and shouldering it. The observer turns to him "Alright, we're done here." and, with merely a nod, he signals his readiness, as they both leave their observation post, leaving no trace.

–

Nearly an hour after a second, much more surprising, albeit this time a lot less eventful visit of Captain Castaneda, who informed Mu about the fact and reasons of accompanying her, and working out details, such as time of departure, Mu can't help feeling her excitement growing. _This is not good._ Pacing restlessly through her home, without goal or purpose, she finally decides to just sit down in her living room._ I was actually happy to have been visited again so soon and now I am looking forward to meeting her..the Captain again tomorrow morning! First of all, I should really be worried that a police officer is accompanying me at all! _

She tries to avoid thoughts of her company, rather thinking of her family, her parents she's going to see again soon, but, inevitably, her thoughts always find a way back to the policewoman. Especially the very unexpected treatment she had the honor to give her the day before. Unsuccessfully trying to shake the images and feel of a taut, strong, but lithe pair of legs and the expressions of those unfathomably dark eyes she looked up into.

The frustrated sigh escaping her as she wonders what all this means to her, is drowned in the beeping of the comm-unit. She receives the call from her cousin before she can figure out anything. "Hey, Mu." The smiling scientists greets on the video link that Mu picks up from the table in her living room.

"I thought I'd call, I'm guessing that policewoman should've been there by now. I just.." she notices a grin spread on Mu's face, somehow getting the feeling she is only half listening to her. "I just wanted hear how you're feeling, if you're up for all this." And the grin spreads. "Why are you smiling?" She asks surprised, because it is rather unusual for her cousin to be unaware of displaying her emotions. It does appear to her like that's the case right now, though, but she is not really confused as to the reason.

"I am?" Mu unconsciously touches the corners of her mouth, confirming Athana's guess, but obviously can't feel anything. Shrugging, she heads into her kitchen. "Oh..yes, well, I will be fine. As you already said, I will be welcome at home, I have nothing to worry about. I did think a little about it since our lunch yesterday and I really do feel like wanting to go home again." Grabbing a glass of milk, she returns to the living room. The circumstances, as well as Mari-I mean my...my chaperone, though, that I don't know how they will receive." her slip-up stops her dead in her tracks, the glass almost sliding out of her palms.

Unable to resist from picking on that stumble, Athana teases her cousin mercilessly, well aware how easily she gets flustered. "And how do you hope they receive it?" Smirking even more when she notices the fidgeting and distinct flush at Mu's slip-up.

Mu tries to ignore the jibe, but explain herself at least a little all the same. "Even with the circumstances because of which this is happening, I at least found her to be a pleasant individual." The warmth in her cheeks doesn't subside, but she opts to ignore that as well. Settling herself on the couch, the video link in one hand, the glass now empty on the table. She ponders the image of the Captain in her mind. "She is brave, foolishly so, caring and I have a feeling she needs someone to remind her not to overdo things." She pauses for a moment, startled by the thought that popped into her mind at that.

_I do hope she has someone like that, at her work, if nowhere else. _Looking back at the screen, she realizes just quick enough that her cousin is just starting to comment on that, smirking almost evilly, so she continues quickly "She is stubborn, judging by what little I saw. That, I assume, should be a prerequisite to being a police officer, would you agree?" Not waiting for an answer, she voices the conclusion she reached on her imaginations about their meeting her family "I would think, at least she won't be shunned at home."

Not willing to let go on another jibe, Athana uses the pause as her chance "So, basically, you like her." Saying it as a statement, she isn't looking at Mu's face on purpose, instead she continues with a sagely nod, her eyes closed "That's a good thing then. I hope you'll get along well." really struggling to keep herself from laughing at the confused expression on her cousin's features.

_I like her? _Her brows furrowing as Mu almost jolts upright, looking at the screen without seeing anything. _Well, yes, _"she is a decent person, but other than that, I do not know anything about her." she mumbles.

"You're thinking out loud, Mu." Athana reminds her cousin, relishing the teasing.

"I what?" Mu's eyes focus again and, unaware what else might cause it, she blames her cheeks flushing yet again on Athana's tesing. That.." Another pause. Hiding her confusion behind a cough, she manages to regain her "Even so, it is true, yes? She is required to be polite on a professional basis, after all. Everything else aside, I am still a suspicious person to her, so.."

Surprised once more at the dejected expression creeping onto her cousin's features, Athana almost starts feeling bad for the teasing, asking gently "Why the sudden mistrust in a person's nature you usually read so easily? You've never been wrong about that, so why think like that now?"

Which doesn't help Mu in the least. _Yes, why indeed.._ "I suppose you are right, as usual. However...her reaction to..you know.. It really surprised me and still makes me...I do not know what it is that I feel. To be quite honest, I am uneasy about it, which is likely why I am uncertain about my judgment. "

The affectionate smile making its way into Athana's features noticeably calms the tall woman. "As I said, it's really a good thing. And you'll know a lot more tomorrow. It's not exactly nice to have all this happen so fast and.." Athana only just manages to stop herself revealing her suspicion that there's a threat looming over one of the objects of Mu's worries, as well as the woman herself. "In any case, it's really time to clear things up."

"True." She agrees, though she doesn't know what it is, exactly, that her cousin is trying not to tell her. "Well then, I will start preparations to leave tomorrow. Thank you for calling again, I appreciate it. I do wish you a nice weekend with your husband as well. Be sure to enjoy it and do not worry about me." Speak to you soon."

With that, repeating her last words to the Captain, Athana wishes Mu good luck and bids her farewell. The vanishing video connection leaves behind a befuddled Mu, certain that she missed some meanings of their conversation, but without any idea as to what or where that might have been. _If this continues in the same vein tomorrow, I do fear there will be nothing 'cleared up'._ She lets out a heavy sigh as she gets up again to go and prepare a late lunch meal. _Though I would tell myself not to think too much about it, I suppose that is only going to add one more loop to the circle of thoughts. This is rather frustrating. _The thought brings a smile to her lips, while she's rummaging through her cupboard.

_I hope mother will forgive me for staying away for so long only to come back because of necessity._


	15. Chapter 13: Marie's side

Before finally heading home to pack what little she will need in two days, Marie decides to stop by her colleague's office. _Little chance to run into the Commander there, thank goodness. _As she enters her district's building, she is greeted by repetitive inquiries about her presence. _Gossip spreads like wildfire with these tattletales. _After the third time of being asked if the Commander knows she's here and, if not, they should try and hold him off, in case he comes by, she puts on her most intense glare, fending off any new attempts without needing to say a word.

Finally she arrives on her colleague's division's floor, exiting the elevator this time, instead of, like usually, taking the staris. _Got to concede a bit. For my health. _Her glare still in place, she makes her way through the open office area, cluttered with shiny, clean desks, behind a few of which the Detectives make it a point not to look at Marie.

This time she knocks on the frame of the open door to James' private office before she enters. When he looks up, Marie greets "Morning." and settles herself in the chair in front of his desk. "How's it going?"

As he watches her enter, his eyebrows rising with his question "What are you doing here? The Commander told me you'd be off duty until Monday morning. He made it a point to remind you of it, if need be."

"Well, yeah, I'm not really here, you know." Winking at him, she grins innocently. But her humor doesn't last long, her smile fades quickly, certain that James won't like what she is about to say. "I was just over at Ms. Daora's workplace. To chat a bit."

But his reaction is not as bad as she expected. "Is that so. No work related chat, of course." He doesn't say it flat out, but his point is not lost on Marie. With a smirk, he continues, theatrically emphasizing every gesture. "No, you wouldn't ever go against orders. A personal visit, then. What did you find ou-I mean what did you tattle about?"

Admitting her defeat "Yes, alright, it was a formal visit." she decides to ask about his progress, before revealing her weekend plans. _I won't get any answers if he's angry._ _I would be, at least. _James doesn't question her smirk, as it fits her thoughts just as much as her words. "Anyway, I've got some things confirmed and...well, more questions piling up. I'm just here to ask if you found anything of interest."

"Which I'm not supposed to tell you, because you're not supposed to be here." James eyes her warily, but, with a sigh, continues anyway "So I'm going to talk to myself now, think out loud." In confirmation, Marie keeps quiet, grinning, as she has to stop herself from saying her thoughts out loud. _You do that all the time anyway. _Lucky for her, he doesn't notice, as he turned toward his computer, instructing it to project the files pertaining his findings on the bigger screen on a wall to their left.

"As you asked, I looked into records of Lunastra's education and I didn't find much at all. That which is there, however..." Pausing, he points at a document showing a date of enrollment at City University, signed in clean, clear letters with the name Lunastra. "According to those records, starting at the age of 31, she entered university for a mere three and a half years." Shrugging questioningly, Marie waits for him to make his point.

"Yeah, while that in itself isn't significant, the fact that in that time she managed to get degrees not only in Management but also Microbiology **and** Engineering." One of Marie's eyebrows rises quickly. "It's incredible, don't you think? Unbelievable, under any normal circumstances, though I wouldn't go so far as to say impossible. What makes it really interesting is that nobody seemed to have notice. You'd think there'd be some coverage in a university paper at the very least, if not even the news."

"That's incredible." She murmurs, looking over the curriculum for all the courses the woman apparently took. "Didn't anyone suspect anything? I mean, she must've had to apply for exams and finals, right? Nobody noticed her just applying for a heap of courses and basically finishing them all at once?"

"That's just it, nobody gave it a second glance, even though the latter two courses belong to the same faculty. And, while I was at it, I looked up that Daora person as well. Guess what?" This time he doesn't let her wait "Same thing, different time."

"Again, according to records, Athana K. Daora is 78 years old and attended university for 8 years, from the age of 30, in which she basically walked through the entire science section. Degrees in Biology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical Sciences." Shrugging, he adds "And, you know, just because she could, two business degrees while she was at it...And, yet again, nobody noticed her rushing through it like she knows it all already. Maybe you should swing by the faculties and hear what they have to say, if anything."

"Hm..Good point there, this really does sound as if they knew all there was to know beforehand. " Thinking for a moment, she says "Well, I will do that, interviewing them, on Monday then. No point in going now, since there will be no one there anymore anyway. Tomorrow, though, I can't." Taking the opportunity to lay out her plans when James is excited, rather than displeased from the start. "Since I'll be away for the next two days, but you'll be able to reach me on my mobile comm."

"What, you're actually going on a trip? You rarely even take vacations when you **take **time off." He leans over his desk, holding a hand to her forehead "Are you sick?" Grinning wide at having his hand swatted away by his scowling colleague, he sits back down and turns toward her seriously. You are behaving a bit strangely these last two days..."

"Don't be ridiculous. How am I behaving strangely?" Crossing her arms, she huffs in indignation. "I..I'm merely accompanying...our suspect on a home visit." Her voice gradually turning more into a mumble, she looks anywhere but directly at James.

Who now looks at her dumbfounded. "What?"

Well aware that this course of action is far from protocol, she can't help the feeling of needing to justify her decision. "Yes, well, what do you expect me to do? Should I let her leave unsupervised?" The moment she says it, she's certain what his response will be. _Why do I have to be on the defensive here? _"It's still not clear, how much she's involved in all this, after all."

"How about not letting her go anywhere in the first place! What are you thinking, Castaneda? You can't just..." pinching the bridge of his nose, he takes a deep breath to calm down. "Seriously, Marie, what are you doing? Why would you let her go anywhere?"

Leaning back over the backrest of her chair, Marie stretches herself as a way of gathering a few seconds to come up with an answer. But her thoughts betray her, swirling around only the request of Daora and the unfathomable reaction of Lunastra at her very personal revelation, no valid reasons offering themselves into her grasp. In the end, she settles for what could be considered the truth. She doesn't admit to herself that it really isn't, though. "Frankly, I don't know." Seeing James rolling his eyes makes her smile slightly.

She shrugs and tries to explain, to James as much as to herself. "Believe me, I tried to get my head around it all, but something's going on that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the case itself, but may still pertain to it in some way. In the end I hope to be able to find out what she..they are hiding, when they are more relaxed in a family setting, because it certainly seems like they are hiding something." Yet again thoughts of the stone entering her mind. _Egg shaped..._ The word makes itself much too comfortable in her head for her liking.

Scrutinizing his colleague for a moment, James sighs and shakes his head. "Well, it's your time off. Never mind me, but you better hope the Commander doesn't find out about this." Apparently at least slightly appeased by her answer. "So why for two days? Why not just a short stopping by?"

"I've been told it's hard to find, so I'll just take the opportunity to tag along and save me the trouble. As for why two days...well, Daora said Lunsatra would likely stay only that long, despite not having been home for..'quite a while', as she put it. If she plans to stay longer, that'd be a problem, but if need be, I'll drag her back." Grinning, she gets up off her chair and stretches once more. "Besides, Lunastra said she'll have to be back at work on Monday. Well, for now it's all the more opportunity to investigate more thoroughly."

"You should go now, the Commander is still out on some meeting with the even-higher-ups." James suggests, sure that there is no way for him to dissuade Marie from proceeding with her plans. He is just as sure that she isn't telling him the whole truth about her reasons, having known her for long enough to know her behavior in such a case. Sighing, he calls out to her, stopping her just out of his room "You know what I'm going to say and I know how you're going to answer. But just so it's been said: be careful. There are just too many unknowns here, so watch out."

"Yeah, I know." She leaves without saying the words completing the sentence in her mind. _It'll be fine._


	16. Chapter 14

The evening of that same day, after finishing her packing for the next few days, as well as a long, cold bath, Mu stands in front of her bathroom mirror, wrapped in a large, fluffy towel. Her thoughts swirling around the fact that she is going to see her family again, _Going home, hm? I am really excited I will see my family again._ She sighs, dipping her head slightly, her slightly damp hair closes like a curtain in front of her face as she leans on the sink._ In hindsight, I do wonder, now, why I did not go sooner...I suppose the idea of it just got lost along the way. _

_But then, what is a century..certainly nothing mother did not expect. I remember well, how my sisters were gone longer. Mother still knew where and what they were doing. _A very uncomfortable feeling of regret cuts into her heart. _Did they keep up contact with her? I never made the effort to find out. _Wondering why she only realizes these things now, of all times, she remembers the words of her cousin. _I wish I could apologize for that, but I suppose it will be at least a step in the right direction, if I return now and keep in contact from then on. After all, she was right, I am certainly anything but unwelcome._

Another, deeper sigh, as she gets to work on drying her mass of hair, a formidable task in itself. _How strange, for things to change so quickly, in merely two days. But now I really miss you._ At that thought, besides the image of her mother, another face, that of a certain police officer, popped up in her mind. _What? _Thoroughly surprised, her head whips toward the mirror again, making her look into her own eyes in wonderment.

_Why remember her now? _Her mind tries to supply a reasonable explanation _Well, of course she will be there when I...She will..meet the family?_ but notices herself turning bright red in the mirror. Shaking her head, trying to free it from the thoughts which she doesn't know if she likes the direction they take. _Silly me, what are you thinking!_

Rubbing herself down with an extra bit of vigor, she moves to her bedroom to dress herself in her nightgown. Her plan to settle down relatively early, so she won't have to wait too long for the next day is thwarted, when she grabs the book from her nightstand and loses herself in the story much longer than she wanted to. Though there is very little regret, as she switches off the light a whole hour later.

–

Early in the morning of Saturday, after a thought filled, fitful, sleep lacking night, a thoroughly disheveled Marie gathers her stuff back into her previously packed bag, the contents of which now spread on the floor, because she stumbled over it during the night. _I'm not going to say it. __I'm __**not**__ going to say it. _"Perfect start to a day like this." she mumbles as her head falls. _And I said it. Damn._

Since she couldn't sleep anyway, Marie spent, as it so often feels like, the whole night thinking about her approach to the situation that might possibly arise when she and Lunastra arrive at their destination. _Most likely scenario would be the parents flipping out, how their dear, sweet daughter could ever be involved with the police. Hah! Nothing like an eye-scratching mom to start the day... _The thought makes her grin widely and with renewed vigor, Marie finishes packing her bag a second time and gets herself dressed up.

Dressed in a wide, flowing, white shirt because of the warm weather and comfortable black pants, because of the long trip, Marie closes the door of her apartment behind her a half hour later. Taking in a deep breath, still cooler than what is to be expected of the day, she heads out to the transport tube. She agreed to meet Lunastra in City's long-term parking garage, having been told that they would take the woman's private flyer. _I do wonder how far we'll have to go, if we need to use such a fast method of transportation and it's still supposed to take a little while._

Making her way through throngs of people seemingly going in every direction, as long as it's the opposite of Marie's. Exhaling her frustration, she finally enters the tube and, contrary to her way there, mere minutes later, arrives at her stop. Looking around, she notices that there are very few people around, least of all the one she is to meet here. _I seem to be a bit early. But what's up with this place? It's like nobody wants to get out of City. _

Lunastra told her she'd wait at the benches in front of the parking garage and since she's not there yet, Marie makes herself comfortable on one of the benches bathed in the morning sun. Aside from her the whole place is completely deserted on this Saturday morning. As such, she indulges herself, her head leaned back and eyes closed, in appreciating the unusually great morning, sighing blissfully._ And even with that kind of start into the day._

–

Mu exits the tube she took from close to her apartment, stepping out into the soothing sunshine. _I do love cold water, but this is nice, too._ _Such a nice morning. I hope this promises equally nice upcoming days. _She thinks, just before she spots the policewoman. The sun's light on the brown skin painting a picture that instantly conjures up the feelings Mu has, when she loses herself in picture of the Singer in the Museum, sending a shiver down her spine now. _But that was in a dark, confined area, not like this..._ She feels her heart skip a beat at the sight, making her stop in her tracks and take in the scene wide-eyed. _Oh my... _With a shake of her head, feeling much more comfortable about going home, she approaches the Captain.

–

Marie feels like she's being watched and raises her head. Without having to look around, trying to find who might have given her that feeling, she spots Lunastra sauntering over. Marie bolts upright and can do nothing but stare at the woman dressed, very unexpectedly, in a long, flowing red and black dress, with hints of an ample cleavage peeking out under an opened vest. _Oh boy..._

As the place is surrounded by buildings, effectively forming a courtyard, the sun reflects off of the white surfaces, enveloping the approaching woman in light, making it almost seem like she has an Aura around her. Like a mirage, Marie thinks she sees the rays of sunshine forming shimmering shapes to both sides of Lunastra's back, moving in a kind of synch to the woman herself. It is obvious that they aren't formed by the really long, jet black hair flowing along the back of the woman.

Before she can make out any details, especially what those shapes might resemble, the light's angle changes and, finally, Lunastra stands directly in front of Marie "Good morning, Captain." and looks around, a hand on her brows to shade her eyes from the intense sun. "A really pleasant way to begin the day, would you agree?" A breathtaking smile hovering on the face of the, from Marie's seated position, now really tall woman.

"I..." Marie still stares, noticing in hindsight that her pause was just a tad too long, making her flustered state obvious. At this moment, though, she is trying to cover it up, by simply talking away and ignoring her overly warm face "Yeah, very pleasant. I mean, a very nice morning. Yes, that." _Smooth, woman.. _"So, uh..shall we go, then?"

Glancing at Lunastra inconspicuously, Marie finds no hint of reaction on the other woman to her own behavior. Instead, the present warm smile splits to say "Very well." and the woman holds out her hand to help up Marie. After a minute moment of hesitation before taking it, which Marie is certain the other woman notices, when finally doing so, she stares, just another second, at their joint hands. That makes Lunastra smile a little brighter, which, in turn, spreads warmth and, without doubt to herself, color to her cheeks yet again.

Marie is slightly mollified when she sees that Lunastra apparently can't help herself either, turning slightly red at that as well. Lucky for her, the Captain is already on her feet and she manages to turn away quickly enough for it not to be noticed.

–

Together, they enter the lift inside the multistory parking garage and Mu presses the button for the 21st floor. Mere seconds later, the vibrationless, high-speed cabin opens its doors to that level. "It has been quite a while since I last used this machine. I do hope it still works as intended." Mu reveals to the Captain, as they walk through the rows of flyers and ground vehicles.

Slightly taken aback by the nonchalant delivery of that comment, Marie grows wary. "It's been taken care of, though, right? Regular maintenance and such?" At the nod by a smiling Lunastra, hinting that she intended to have this reaction, Marie frowns "Well then, nothing to worry about, is there?" but the question remains unanswered for the moment.

The flying machines have their parking spots along the outer walls of the building, so that they can slide out of their holding clamps, basically fall out of the building and fly away. The building, of course, features a safety-net, just in case the flyer has a problem.

While Marie doesn't fear heights, she did experience the fall into such a net before, not particularly liking it. As such, added the lack of reassurance, she is not amused as they reach their transport. The machine that Lunastra is walking up to does very little to soothe Marie's worries.

"This you call maintained?" Marie warily eyes the shoddy looking heap of technology, apparently decades old . "It's got five different shades of paint on it! One of which is red, instead of any shade of blue, like it's obviously supposed to be!" Knocking on it with her finger, it produces a hollow, metallic sound, where she expected it to cave in from decay. _Huh.._

"It is structurally sound, as well up to date on the mechanical side." The other woman murmurs, as she makes her way around the vehicle, inspecting for any obvious sings of misgivings. Looking back to Marie, wearing a sly grin she explains "It is just...Athana, my cousin, uses it much more often than I do, if you understand."

"As long as she's not the one doing the maintenance..." Marie mumbles, looking around the area, eliciting a bright smile that she doesn't notice, not even expecting to have been heard. When she turns back, she's looking at the behind of the tall woman, who is just about to fold herself through the entry hatch on the front of the machine.

With a cough, Marie turns around yet again, feeling the sudden need to give the other woman some privacy. _But that's ridiculous. She's just getting on the thing, is all... _Mostly to distract herself, she remembers the questions that arose with the cryptic hint for their destination. "So how long will this flight take? And where are we going?"

Still working on the pre-flight checks, the muted voice of Mu reaches out from inside the machine. "We will travel for approximately three hours." Rather facing her conversation partner, showing her attention, Mu leans out of the entry, facing the Captain and elaborates further "This particular machine is made to go a little further than its competitor models, or even the ones from the same company.

The increased range allows for travel without recharge stops. Neither in Pert, nor in...well, at home, for our tour back." She shows a bright smile to Marie "The advantages of being a businesswoman, being able to indulge in one's quirks, I suppose." Tapping her chin with her finger, she decides to ask "I would like to stop near Aimerse, though, if you do not mind."

"We're going that far out?" Marie's brows first raise "Beyond Aimerse even?" and quickly fall into a frown. "But there's no place there to live...is there? It's just mountains – steep, high and **really** cold – no?" She watches the other woman just smiling at that. Sighing, she follows into the flyer and stows their bags in the cargo hatch. _Not much else I can do now, but see what we're heading for._

Making herself in the comfortable in seats that remind her of a well sat-in sofa, she watches Lunastra flipping switches and entering data into the board computer. _Doesn't seem to need any reminder how it works, despite saying she doesn't use it often. _While she still doesn't trust the machine, she does accept to herself that she trusts the woman.

"Alright then, this concludes the checks." Mu closes a few information windows on the display. "The mechanics of the vehicle have last been properly serviced two days ago. I hope you do not have to worry anymore now, hm? What was the saying?" She ponders for a second. "Here goes nothing!" So said, Mu pushes the clamp-release button, smiling as she watches the captain's eyes widening in surprise.

"Wait, not so-Whoa!" With a loud snapping sound, the clamp lets go of the flyer, but contrary to the bracing Marie's expectations, they don't fall at all. A chuckling Lunastra teases her passenger "See? No need to worry at all." Merely a soothing hum accompanies their hovering, increasing only slightly when their transport leaves its space, flying out over the adjacent buildings. Weaving through, between the skyscrapers, continuously upwards, they settle in a height just above the tallest of the towers. "We are now traveling via autopilot." Mu announces.


	17. Chapter 15

For a few minutes, the two women silently enjoy the sight from above, Marie disengaged herself from the dashboard and now relaxes in the comfortable seats. Below them, symmetrical valleys within the sea of white and sharp, gray and black shadows forming the streets of City. Sparsely interrupted by a few condos or houses of some eccentric rich, who didn't have to fear the costs to have their home painted in different colors. Their extensive play of colors jolts Marie out of her lull, suddenly remembering images of the strange impression of the same kind she received at first meeting the woman now seated next to her.

Forcing herself to banish the images and ignore the shiver they sends down her spine. _Makes you wonder why one of the wealthiest people in this town doesn't have such a showy spleen._ She thinks, while glancing over to Lunastra, who is currently immersed in programming the flight computer. _Or any apparent ones at all, for that matter. Reading hardly counts as that, even if it's old earth's paper books. She's far from the only one to do that and it's not so expensive, as to prevent the average person do it. Doesn't she want to do anything with the money she makes? _

_She talks about stereotypes being everywhere, but she herself doesn't really seem to fit one. Yes, she is wealthy, but not interested in the money. Dignified, seemingly naturally so, rather than out of public necessity, even in..uh..unconventional situations. _Once again their first meeting pops into her head._ A bit scatterbrained, but quite a force in her business or when opposed in the wrong way. _

_And then there's the extreme emotional reaction on her..hm, secret, I suppose. Makes me wonder why she did show it to me, even though she must've known she didn't have to. _Lost in her thoughts, Marie doesn't notice Lunastra turned toward her for a while already, in turn, watching her as well now, with an amused smile.

As her focus returns, Marie's face flushes, when she does realize she's being watched. Trying not to look too suspicious, she still guesses that clearing her throat while turning away as quick as possible undid that effort quite efficiently. So she just gives up and faces the other woman "Well then, Miss Lunastra" she starts, but gets interrupted.

"Please, does this entire situation not suffice to make it appropriate for you to call me by my first name?"

Though she would like to comply with the request, Marie is determined not to get too close and keep reminding the other woman that this is still a formal procedure. "Yes, about that.." Still, she needs to find out about the name itself. "That is one of the things we would need to clear up. You know, to get my files complete. So let's start there: the M and U in your name, What does it mean?"

"M and U?" Confused, but only for a moment so short, it would have been missed by the untrained eye. Not by Marie, though. "It is not an abbreviation. My given name is, quite simply, Mu." _Is that so. Very unusual name. Just like her cousin. _It makes Marie even more curious about meeting their family, finding out what their names will be.

"Well, perhaps not so simple. It is supposed to fit my...circumstances." And yet again, before Marie can ask about that, the other woman continues "Did you know, Mu is a very, very old word, with its meaning ranging from a simple 'not' to something as meaningful as 'non being'? It is a tradition in my family to name the children after an attribute, a characteristic they display." The smile on Mu's face gone, she regards Marie with almost pleading eyes, hoping the other woman understands not to ask more of her.

_What are you trying to do here? I'm along for the ride to get answers, you know that. _Marie thinks, but she lets off for now. Not without trying one more time, of course"I suppose you won't let me in on why it's 'non being' for you, then. Going by your explanation, at least, if I had to guess, it has something to do with your..illness." Making it a statement rather than a question, she still waits a moment, hoping for a response forthcoming.

When it doesn't happen, she sighs and Lunastra looks away, staying silent. The hum of the flyer's drive system the only sound remaining in the cabin. Finally certain there won't be any response following, she turns to another topic. _It'll be resolved sooner or later. Either voluntarily, as Daora was sure will happen, or by force, if I have to...though I would really prefer not to. Why else would I be here..._

"I was quite amazed when I saw how quickly you received your degrees in university. It seems like it was a record breaking rush through the courses." When Lunastra turns her head back to face her, knowing she has the other woman's attention, Marie questions about James' findings "Something which nobody seemed to have noticed, let alone care about. There should've been quite a stir in the faculties at least, if not even the public press, considering how young you were when you finished.." Letting that sink in for a second, she adds "You may have noticed, we're finding an increasing lack of any general records of your life."

Lunastra is obviously thinking about how to respond, she passes over the first part of Marie's comment "When I entered university, I basically bargained with the staff. They prevented my progress from attracting attention, while I helped them wherever my knowledge was applicable. This mutually beneficial agreement could have been broken after I left, but it seems the staff of this university has enough integrity to preserve the privacy of their students and even their alumni. I knew this before I went there to study, while I also knew of no few off-world institutes that would not have held to such a contract after completion."

_No answer as to __**how**__ she knew__. Now I'm sure she's older than she says she is. Question is, how does she benefit from making herself younger? Aside from the obvious, of course. Not that she looks any older than she says she is. In fact..._ Closing her eyes in irritation, she stops herself, wishing she could bang her head on the window she's looking out of. Or at the very least get up and pace around, which her current location doesn't permit.

Instead, she lets out a quiet groan. _How about you stay on topic, Castaneda..._ Clearing her throat and taking a deep breath, the purpose of which the other woman luckily doesn't realize, Marie tries to get back on track with her thoughts. _It's not very beneficial in her business, considering the big shots are usually somewhat wary of rising, young business partners, even when they're successful. Neither is it necessary for entering the university. _

Frustrated, Marie sighs. _This is getting nowhere, I'm basically running in circles here. _"Have you thought about why that group you mentioned might have gotten involved with you in any way after years? Did you find any possible reason?" Marie switches topics again, in hope of possibly distracting and making Mu...Lunastra slip up in some way in her elaborations. _No first name basis!_

Relief at the previous topics being dropped shows clearly in the golden eyes looking at Marie, "I did think it over, yes. However, I could not think of anything. Suppose it is about my research from years ago. I cannot believe they would not know that I lost it in the conflict with them at the time. Not to mention that it is entirely possible that they made it disappear it in the first place."

"If that is the case, let us assume they made copies of it. I find it very unlikely they would need anything else from me now. They were quite capable of providing solutions for any scientific aspect on their own, without the need to force me to go along with their unprincipled ways." As memories pop back into her mind, Mu feels her anger rising, looking away from Marie, out of the window instead.

In a moment of silence, which the other woman seems to notice she needs to collect herself, the area they are passing now, the less densely populated area below them, Mu realizes they already made quite a way. She wonders how quickly time flies when conversing with the Captain, despite the topics, feeling herself relax a little.

Finding her calm again, she looks back to the other seat's occupant. "As for what they could hope to find currently...that is a good question." Cocking her head slightly to the side, she still tries to imagine this angle "Assuming still it was them who altered my data, they would have immediately undone any chances of actions like, for example, blackmail, when they involved the District Security. You." She points a finger at Marie.

Grinning at the raised eyebrow of the intently listening woman, Mu continues with a shrug "Apart from that, the goal of such blackmail would have to be something I can not imagine. I have long since stopped the research, on the off chance that it would start any events like those again. On the other hand, though my company fares quite well, I highly doubt money would be the object."

"That leaves only two possibilities I can think of. For one, access to buildings or construction sites, or technology." With her arms crossed, tapping her finger on her chin, Mu elaborates on that thought "Going by their previous actions, I doubt they would bother interacting with an intermediate rather than acquiring what they need through different means." Raising one finger, she concludes "The process of elimination leaves only one thing, then." and turns the finger to herself "My person."

Looking at the expectant Marie, Mu says "However, I would not know what they could have found that raised their interest, especially without contact for so long." clearly expressing the unspoken apology for her lack of answers. She tries, internally, to shake the uneasy direction her mind is taking her, sure that the opposition could not know about her hidden possession. Even if she weren't sure, there is little she can do to explain it to Marie.

Who is currently quietly absorbing and thinking about the options Lunastra presented. "Oh, I could think of a thing or two..." Marie mumbles, in an unaware response.

"Why thank you." Having noticed that Marie wasn't exactly focused, she teases her.

Now, though, she wishes she didn't regain her focus. Looking at the bright smile on the other woman, she, at first, draws a blank at what she could have been thanked for, before realizing exactly what she said. "I...I mean..I meant your assets." _Oh no!_ "I mean you. You as an asset, that is. You yourself, as an asset to their plots." she finally manages, ignoring the uncomfortably rising heat in her cheeks.

"Maybe they did something to you back then and now they want to collect results of any kind?" Forcing herself as good as she can to regain her professionalism, Marie tries to simply ignore the huge smile on Mu's face, as well as her own awkwardness with her response. _What in the world was that, Castaneda?_ _I'm really off my game these days..._ To sober herself, the mood and general awkwardness, "I hate to get back to that all the time, and I really am sorry since it bothers you so much, but it seems most likely that it does have something to do with your biology."

_And there goes her good mood yet again._ Seeing the other woman's expression close up again, Marie feels bad for being the cause of it._ Oh geez, you're really making me feel bad here. _Conflicted, though, with the knowledge that she shouldn't. _That, though, is not good in itself either. I'm not supposed to be affected by a suspect. Dammit. _"If you'd just tell me what you're hiding...who knows if I might not even be able to help...i do have the integrity to keep a secret, if need be, you know..." Now it's Marie's turn to look out of the window, mumbling her thoughts to herself, while still enjoying the view of the open fields they are passing over now.

She does, however, notice the quick turn of the other woman's head toward herself in the reflection in the window. Looking at Mu now, she is surprised at the bemused, wide-eyed and actually a little amused expression she sees. _Ah damn, she heard..good ears, that one. _She can't help herself but laugh at the thought.

Seeing how it would only get more awkward and difficult between the two if she backtracked now, Marie tries to continue on the direct approach "Though I didn't think you could possibly hear that...I do mean what I say." She looks directly into the other woman's eyes, startled once again by their clarity. "Yes, I have an obligation to my job, which I take very seriously, but I am not out to look for misdeeds by people who did nothing." Before it turns into a misunderstanding of any kind, she amends "Yet, that is." and emphasizes "I still do have – and have to have, really – my reserves about this whole story. I believe you can understand that."

Taking a deep breath, Marie tries to convince Mu to share at least something with her and, with doing so, she reveals the one thing she really shouldn't, unable to help herself. "Despite the grandeur of this whole story, for reasons I can't begin to imagine, I feel you're telling the truth. Which is why I am now here, accompanying you on a trip, instead of seeing to you staying put in City, until all doubts are cleared." She allows herself to add "I would like you to trust me the same way."

With the, to Marie, already all too common blank expression on Mu's face hiding her thoughts, she is silently regarded for a lengthening moment. After what seemed like minutes to Marie, Mu finally smiles "That must have been quite a hard thing to admit, for a police officer no less. I did not think I had such an effect on you. And I genuinely apologize for putting you in such a difficult position."

Ruefully, she admits "Rather selfishly, I did not even think about what having to take this trip might mean to your sense of duty. I promise you this: I will answer your trust." Looking out of the front window, Mu thinks on how to proceed. "Please give me a little more time, because this is...well, I do not even know how or where to start."

"Hah, what, next you're going to tell me you're an alien or something." Marie jokes and, in return, gets regarded with only a raised eyebrow and a small, nondescript smile. _What? _She thinks, and with an unsure laugh, the thought escapes her voiced as well "What?"

Mu responds amused "Yes, that would be absurd, would it not..." then turns around again, regarding the view out of the window once more, the smile not leaving her lips.

Marie looks at her disbelieving. "You're joking.." _She's must be! _With another laugh, though, Marie adds "You and your enigmatic behavior." _If only it wouldn't add to your charm..._ A thought that she shoves away as strong as her mind is capable. "Alright, you won't tell me yet, I'll wait." _Well, long trip ahead, let's see what her promise is worth and what she's really hiding later then. _"I **will** hold you to your promise, though." she warns "I do hope you're sincere about your..well, sincerity."


	18. Chapter 16

At the far end of City, situated on the outskirts of the last few, run down buildings, spreading out into the countryside, an inconspicuous building is the only one in the area with illuminated windows across all its four stories.

Inside, on the third floor, a man and a woman, sitting at two hopelessly cluttered desks, mumble to themselves about the mathematical formulas on the workstations they are currently typing away at. The desks are set into a corner of a large, white tiled room, within which a half dozen, evenly spread tables are placed. On top of each one those tables, large tubular machinery, touchscreen interfaces and blinking lights included, is fixated. A few lab-coats buzzing between the tables, taking notes and checking for inconsistencies.

"Ma'am! Sir!" One of the obviously non-scientific staff, going by his clean formal wear, walks into the room, stopping stiffly behind the two at their desks. They both turn around at the same time and the shoulder length brunette adjusts her glasses. She is also the first to respond.

"Yes, what is it?" Simple and to the point, but friendly so.

The messenger relaxes and relays his information "The recon team reports the departure of the subject with one escort. We have an Aero-Drone following them, the video feed is running well. They are headed West, current position just under an hour from Aimerse, where they said they'll stop once."

"For now, we can't say where exactly they're headed. We've checked out the town, there is noting there to suggest that to be their destination. And beyond that, well, they said they were headed for the mountains, but there is even less there." he shrugs, his stiff posture forgotten. "We have surveyed the entirety of it, several times since we found out that's where 'her' family supposedly lives." he reverently refers to Lunastra.

"I see." The woman turns around with her chair and picks up a datapad on which she conjures up a list of available surveillance equipment. "Very well, we will wait and see if they stay away for at least the night, which is when we will set the plan in motion. The data from the drone will explain where they'll end up, eventually."

"Regardless, have the extraction team stand by, starting at 1800 hours. Sundown will be at 21:43, so have them move into the vicinity at 2200. By then, it would be worrying, if we weren't certain about Lunastra's absence." She wonders why she added that and even while saying it, she has a strange feeling because of it.

"The recon team stands by on site until then and upon arrival of the extraction team are to lend support if necessary, though I doubt there will be a need for them." Her instructions relayed, the messenger leaving with a snapped "Yes, Ma'am!", on his way to forward the instructions, she turns to her colleague "Almost sounds too easy, doesn't it? But then, that's just what we want." _But I still don't like it. Too easy is never good. Then again, look at our budget. That seems to work out._

"True." Her colleague speaks for the first time then, looking at his colleague. "We've come a long way with the genetic sample we took of that woman back then. If our findings hold true, though...well, no use getting ahead of ourselves. After all, there might not even be anything there, except more samples, of course. Anyway, we'll see soon enough." He turns back to his work, letting out a sigh, before he starts typing again "Wonder how the boss is going to react, though. It's taken..what, five years? More, even, I think, for Lunastra to leave enough room for us to operate. Almost the entirety of the time since our research could be restarted."

"There's got to be something there." The woman says, determined, pointing her finger at the man. She turns around to pull out recently made surveillance photos "Just look at these." and puts them on the table. "She hasn't changed in any way whatsoever since we tried to get her to work with us back then. There are no signs of surgery, not even any marks that would be left with skin regeneration. With this filter on the camera, we should be able to see even them, but there is nothing."

"Anyway, you know very well what we found in her DNA, confirming this must her, unchanged." She leans back in the office chair, tapping her digital pen on the corresponding datapad. "I wonder when and where the project that created something like this was conducted. If we'd known about it, we could've been so much further with our research back then." With a sigh, she accepts her apparent place in the food chain. "I suppose the boss has her reasons for not telling us about a liz-" She gets interrupted by a specific chime on the comm-unit, signaling the call to be from the boss she just mentioned. "Speak of the devil."

Accepting the connection, she greets their investor, who responds alike. "I have been informed about the advance in our operation. Good work, you two and your team. But we can't allow ourselves to make a mistake, so stay on your guard. I will speak to the extraction team myself, later. I am calling to ask if there is any indication as to where that woman is headed." the business-suit-clad brunette asks.

"Well," the female scientist starts "we know they will stop over at Aimerse, though not the reason. After that, they will continue westward. The scientist, Daora, stated yesterday they would proceed to the Sassam Range. However..we have no indication as to where exactly. There's just..nothing there." Unsure how this lack of information will be received, the woman waits for the response of her boss.

"Very well, I expected something like this." The two scientists share a surprised, slightly annoyed look, not caring that the woman in the video link can see them. And she doesn't seem to care about their exchange. "I have the connection to the drone's feed, we'll all see, then, what's where." Turning away from the screen, the woman shuffles a few papers around her desk, finally regarding the other two again after a moment. "I would have given you satellite time, but they are under maintenance at the worst possible moment."

Her nonchalant expression vanishes, turning very serious "Don't try to force your way through one of the other satellites the next few days either. Our division is reviewing the data transfer of this quarter and I can only hide so much from them. So, if there are no results from the reconnaissance tonight, we will have to take the next step. Your team should devise a plan for Lunastra's capture on her return, so we have one ready, just in that case."

"What about the policewoman?" the man reminds the other two of that problem.

"Ah, yes, that is a little problematic." Now shuffling another pile of papers, on the other side of her desk, her voice is slightly muffled "We need to find out why, as the recon team reported, Daora seemed to **insist** for Lunastra to go to her home and why that Castaneda woman not only allowed it, but even went with her." A vague curse at the archaic form of information keeping escapes her, but she knows the value of instantly destructible evidence.

"There it is." She reads through what should be a report of a kind, though the two scientists can only see the blank back of the sheet. "See if you can probe Castaneda's supervisor, maybe he knows what's what already. I've got a name here who can pressure him into talking, I'll send it to you." The paper back on the desk, she looks at her subordinates again "If he doesn't talk or doesn't know anything, she'll turn into a wild card in this game. You've got contacts, use them and try to get her to back out of any of this."

"She fulfilled her purpose, though not exactly as we planned, but even better in the end. If all fails, we take her, too. There will be enough time then, to decide what to do with her. Just see to it, that there is no evidence on who took them." Clasping her hands in front of the screen, the businesswoman concludes "Alright, that's all for now. Keep up the good work. I will call again, after tonight's operation."

The connection closes and the two left behind share a silent look of confusion. Until the man speaks up "She 'expected something like that'? What, she knows more about what's going on and keeps us in the dark? That's really counterproductive, don't you think?" Slightly frustrated, he runs a hand through his short, black hair. "We really should've just taken Lunastra back then, there wouldn't be this much of a hassle now.."

"You didn't gather she's holding out on us by the simple fact that she just popped up out of nowhere to revive our project with ridiculous funds?" his colleague remarks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"There was that." he relents, grinning himself.

"See? Well, on to the new problem she faces us with." She groans, aware that it is a ridiculous task, because of the risk involved, even though they themselves won't have anything to do with it personally. "Catching the woman, if need be...question is: what is she capable of. I propose a strike team to hit her, see how that turns out. With her DNA here" she points to a lab-refrigerator, in which a few vials of clear liquids are preserved "we can concoct something that will, inevitably, knock her out cold. Literally."

"We need to be careful, not only with that policewoman, but Lunastra herself, as well. Who knows what this...hm..mutation did with her. But I agree to a strike team with a personalized weapon. We will at least learn something, whatever it is, that way."

While the man turns back to his console, the woman, mumbles an affirmation, gets up and heads out to inform the involved sections about their upcoming duties, impatiently wishing they would already have their results, but she knows very well that timing, as well as patience are highly important aspects of their endeavor.


	19. Chapter 17 - Part 1

About a half hour of silence stretched between both women, time in which tend to their respective thoughts, until Mu suddenly announces "We are almost at Aimerse." jolting Marie out of a never ending circle of repeating thoughts. The other woman smiles at Marie "I had hoped for a nice, sunny day for our stop there and it seems my wish has been granted." and turns back to the console of her vehicle, setting it up to land. "Prepare for landing." She instructs the machine, which immediately responds by slowing down and descending slowly.

With little noise and impact, the flyer settles down on a landing pad on top of a multipurpose building. Immediately, a mechanism beneath the platform on which they landed shuffles them into a parking spot. While unbuckling, it is Marie first, who speaks up again "So, this is a nice area and all, I remember this to be a cozy town, even though it's been a while, but..what exactly are we stopping here for?"

"Telling you now would spoil the surprise." Mu smiles as she holds the door to the elevator. Marie enters, followed by Mu, and they ride down to the ground floor. The building is designed so that they have to walk through the mall part of it, with stores left and right. Aimerse being a more rural town, especially since its surrounding area is one of the agricultural zones that support City, the mall itself is rather small. Incomparably so to the Entertainment District, with its bustling, dozens of floors spanning shops and, of course, the addition of color in the form of bricks and other, older ways used to build all the houses, like back on earth.

Marie is not surprised to find out they are heading right toward the exit, going through it into the bright, early noon sunlight. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looks around the town she hasn't visited for years, never having any reason to do so. The crime rate almost reaches zero in these kind of settlements. Aside from that, it is far out of Marie's jurisdiction and personal interest. _Still, it's really nice here. _Stretching and taking in the warmth, Marie sighs blissfully, smiling back, when she spots Mu watching her.

They proceed along the weathered main road. Its state not being mended, because the locals don't have any problems with or due to it, while the officials believe it adds to the town's charm. They pass corner shops that offer the freshest of wares, almost immediately after getting them from the fields they grew on, bakeries with actual fresh goods, unlike the vacuum packs in City and even a small fish market. A sight Marie hasn't seen in a very long while. _Means that giant lake at the other end of this town is still fine. Nice to see people take care of things around here._

While simply following Mu, Marie doesn't even realize that she is deviating the left and right, looking at all the displays in small shops and market stalls, until she notices Mu stopped a bit further from her, waiting on and watching her with a bright smile. Slightly embarrassed, Marie catches up with Mu and lets out a laugh "It's been a while. Excuse my enthusiasm." accompanied by a bright smile of her own.

"It is good to see you enjoy yourself." assures the other woman. "I assume, then, you have not left City in at least a long while?"

"Yeah, my work, you know." They both know that is not entirely true, but Mu understands why the Captain takes this easy way out. "I would've thought you don't get out much either, considering how much you seem to have to do at your workplace. And how much of a point Doara made about you leaving."

Without commenting on that, Mu leads on to the next junction, where she turns from the main road, walking down an alley apparently lined by simple homes. Marie, by now very curious as to where she's being led, remains quiet and tries not to show too much excitement. As does Mu, very long legs leading on with long strides, just shortened enough not to have Marie walk uncomfortably fast. _I wonder if she does that consciously. _Marie thinks, watching the sway of hips, dress and hair in perfect synchrony with fascination.

Only moments later, after a few more turns here and there, Mu stops at the end of their apparently last alley. Marie walks up next to her and stops, taking in the breathtaking scenery spreading out in front of them with wide eyes. "Wow" she whispers and points to the sky "I didn't see anything like this from up there" They walk along a small path leading through trees dotting the area here and there, surrounded by beds of flowers in a wide variety of colors, never the same in any direction they may look.

The play of colors and shadows again creates the shapes around the tall woman in front of Marie, while seemingly changing her hair color around the strange palette of blue and green once more. This time, Marie's mind doesn't even offer her the option to ask the other woman about it, merely enjoying the display, unable to keep from staring. When she realizes she's doing so, she speeds up for a few steps, rather walking side by side.

Placement of all the plantation around them easily hides the fact that it is actually a rather small courtyard so well, that many people on their first visit were surprised to find a wall, all around the yard, interrupted with alleyways in reasonable intervals.

A bit off center, however, they can easily spot the Café, with its porch over a small pond. Mu notices Marie spots the little shop and explains "I thought, since you were more or less forced to accompany me, I would treat you to any choice of your liking at the best coffeehouse I am aware of. No bribery intended, of course." Mu winks at Marie, smiling at the remark to their earlier conversation. "Merely enjoy the day."

"That's..nice. Thank you." Feeling uncharacteristically speechless, Marie just smiles at her guide, when they walk up the porch.

The two women make themselves comfortable at a table, ordering drink and treat. The equally comfortable, companionable silence allows them to appreciate taking in the scenery while waiting for their orders. Marie can't stop her eyes wandering to the ever so slightly exposed legs of the other woman, time and again forcing herself to look elsewhere. Thankfully it seems to go unnoticed. When finally their orders arrive, Marie breathes out a blissful "I could get used to this.". Lounging even deeper into the chair, enjoying the sun, the location and, of course, the coffee. _And the company._ Her own behavior and that stray thought returns her focus quite effectively and jolts her into sitting upright again.

She tries to cover her reaction with a cough, apparently successful, since Mu only then turns to look at her. Picking at her cake, she takes a piece on her fork. "Would you mind telling me about yourself?" Seemingly surprised at herself that this slipped out, Mu clarifies "About your work, I mean. I am intrigued as to what responsibilities lie on the police in this day and age."

Despite the fading professional distance between the two – _Where did that start? Is she doing that on purpose? Am I...letting it happen?_ – , Marie feels herself become really uncomfortable about the initial, personal part of the question. So she is grateful that the other woman amended the question to professional nature makes her counter question first, though, as she relaxes back into her chair. "These days? So you have a notion of how it was at another time?"

"Nothing substantial." Spreading her hands and shrugging, Mu laughs lightly "Only from my imagination, base on, if you could call it that, research from people long gone." Smiling brightly when she sees the confusion on Marie's face "My books."

"I see." _I'm not sure I like the idea of being predictable because of someone's fictional ideas. That's not to say I'm not curious... _"Well, how are we depicted in them? I don't get to read much, but they're from a very different time, right? Is it even comparable to City now?"

"Well..." Thinking it over for a moment, she summarizes "In most cases, it seems, there is the romantic concept of a loner, often with an ill past or affliction, on the hunt for justice, be it by wading through murder and death in the most disagreeable circles of the human lowlifes or as an out of place, rugged seen-it-all in the high of society and-or the corporate world."

Marie feels herself watched closely _Is she searching for me reacting to any of this? a_nd raises her eyebrow. _I'd have thought she'd just ask if she wants to know. _The intense regard falls away, when Mu relaxes, leaning on her arms, crossed on the table. "They are, at times, aided by a small clique of trustworthy, almost but not entirely friends, but at the least growing all too close to the seeming suspect turning victim, if a romantic interest is to be found at all. Day after day, clue after clue, without rest, their work continues until the good wins over the bad." A small pause and, with a smirk, she adds "And, of course, many a cup of coffee."

"Yeah, of course, the coffee.." Marie says, staring into her almost empty cup. _Better not get another...but that'd be too obvious now. Well, damn._ Her internal predicament has her laughing. If she didn't know better, she would assume the other woman knows her thoughts, seeing how she just smiles at her own outburst of laughter.

"As for comparing it to life in City...While I do not know about any...underworld, if you will, I do have the benefit of circling the kind of corporate high society. From what I have seen, however, they do not have much semblance to the fiction. Aside from many of them being greedy money grubbers." That would have had Marie's attention, were she able to focus entirely on what is being said, instead of her eyes slipping to the lower side of the other woman every so often, settling on the slight increase in the revealing nature of her dress. "Thus, there has been no such hero in the time I have been in business."

The almost white of the leg that's been peeking out from under the bloody red of fine fabric dried Marie's mouth over the short time since her noticing it. So she takes a big swig from the glass of water that had been served with her coffee and almost chokes on a bit of it going down the wrong pipe. "Well, there's the coffee, at least, which holds true. Something I've been kind of wondering about myself, but alas."

Marie shakes her head and leaves the absurd topic and her thoughts, leaning back so that she can't see so much anymore. "The other things...not so much." And with a sigh, she elaborates "What you don't read about is that the majority of it is plain, boring paperwork. And nowadays there aren't that many big cases anymore." The waiter interrupts her thought, asking if they would like anything else. Wearing a sheepish grin, Marie decides to order another cup of fresh brew anyhow.

Accompanied by Mu's grin, she continues "Maybe it's this planet, maybe it's this city, but, from the outside it looks as if people seem to just live their days away. Of course, there's the occasional murder, but mostly those aren't thought out nearly well enough to fill even a pamphlet. To be honest, this entire star-system, with all three inhabited planets, seems pretty much settled down, all the..unpleasantness is happening on the Fringe Systems."

A humorless laugh, half a groan even, makes its way between the two "Who knows, with the rather big issue of the ongoing ongoing war aside, people might have actually learned to coexist. That said, I certainly won't complain. I'm sworn to protect the City-zens and more than happy that they live out their lives as intended, even if it makes me more or less a province cop."

"That did not prevent you from being shot, however." Mu points out.

Chuckling with definite amusement, Marie concedes "That didn't have much to do with planning, though. That guy was just way out of it, probably mentally sick." Unconsciously Marie rubs her legs, which doesn't go unnoticed by the other woman. "Anyway, that's hardly the norm. All of this boringne-...I mean, peacefulness makes your case all the more outstanding. It's going right to the heart of our dear home, after all. And the players on the field, the one's we've identified so far, at least...rarely such high profile to be found in my reports." _Rarely such an intriguing individual of interest either. Not to mention beautif-..Oh-kay, that's enough._

"And the last point? I suppose, then, your life was not riddled with grief?" Instantly regretting her directness this time, Mu apologizes "I am sorry, that was inappropriate. But I do really hope your life was calm, mind you. It was just a silly thought, really."

"Nothing to worry about, no." Marie reassures. Despite her initial unease, for reasons she can't seem to find in hindsight, she reveals parts of her personal life. "I grew up in an average family. Good people, most of them still there, mostly spread over this system." And further still, she talks about her family without reservation. "I suppose I have the incline to do this work, since my father did it and I always, sort of, looked up to him because of it. Mother is actually from a town like this. She grew up a farmer in E.T."

"The extraterrestrial from your motion picture history?" The other woman asks incredulously.

"I don't..what?" But Marie is at a loss, never having even heard of such a movie. "No, no aliens." _How did she even get to that, out of nowhere?_ "It's Elias' Town, a few towns over in that direction" Confused, she points at the direction of their flyer's parking spot and, as she looks away from the intently observing golden eyes, she realizes _Well now, the resolve to not to tell her really lasted long. It's as if...she just pulls it out by simply being attentive._

"Oh, of course." The healthy red face, caused by embarrassment, shows well on the pale skin of the businesswoman, makes Marie refocus and smile brightly. And, now that the woman is slightly off her focus, Marie doesn't miss this chance to ask "What about your family? I mean, I'm heading to meet them without much preparation or even basic knowledge about them at the moment. Anything I should be aware of?" Her attention is now entirely focused on Mu's reactions, forgotten is the fresh coffee in her hands. _Hope I haven't lost my touch. There really seems to be no reaction to this from her._

But a smile slowly emerges after Mu thinks for a moment about how to answer. "As you no doubt already gathered, our destination is Sassam Range. My family, or rather part of it, lives in an old house, built on a clearing settled into the mountain itself." Sitting back right into her chair, Mu taps a finger on her lips, thinking about what else to convey "Mother likes to work on the house herself, keeping it in shape, whereas father works on the fields adjacent to our home. The scenery will be quite a surprise, if you keep your assumption in mind, that there is nothing but cold there."

"As for what you can expect...I am certain you will be welcome, however I am not sure how they might react to your profession and the fact that you are required to act on it while visiting. Mother can be...protective. But then, so are all mothers, are they not?" Marie is surprised to find herself relaxing upon hearing Mu's chuckle to that, finding herself joining in. Somehow, though, she misses that she hasn't been told much once again.

All of a sudden, though, the mood of the woman across from her changes. Though not in a bad way, it certainly catches Marie's attention. After being regarded seriously for what seemed like ages under the attention, Mu asks "Do you believe in fairy tales, Captain?"


	20. Chapter 17 - Part 2

"Excuse me?" Marie responds, perplexed about the somewhat ridiculous change of topic.

"Tales of worlds filled with monsters, magic and eponymous fairies, creatures of folklore, entertainment and nightmares. Dragons." she adds, seemingly as an afterthought, and cocks her head slightly, spilling a mass of her hair down her side. "Maybe you have heard of them?" Mu is still regarding Marie intently.

"I..." Now thoroughly bewildered, Marie nods, while saying "Yes, of course, I have heard of them. I kind of like the idea, in case you'll ask, but do I believe in them? No, no I don't. Why this all of a sudden?"

The bright smile, something Marie finds herself looking forward to seeing, returns to Mu's face, as she says "You like it. That is good to hear." nodding enthusiastically. _Yeah, real good...doesn't help me squat, though, thank you very much._ Mu's continuing prevents her from taking the chance to roll her eyes in addition. "We, my family that is, do not have many visitors from...outside." _Okay, what is __**that **__supposed to mean now? Why the hesitation?_

"However, the few that did keep saying that we have to have arisen from a story, the likes of which I mentioned. Magic must be at work, they claim, some even calling us fairies squarely." A throaty chuckle escapes Mu, which does a lot of things to Marie's state of mind, but it doesn't help to gather her thoughts back. Which is why when Mu adds "If they knew." pretty much all but a blank _What...?_ is left in her head.

Marie's attempt to probe into those statements, ends with an early interruption of a barely completed "But..!", verbally overrun by Mu's declaration "I believe it is best for us to continue our travel. While I am expected at a specific time, I would rather not postpone our flight much longer. Despite the quality of scenery, catering and company." while smiling at Marie.

_Okay..what did I just miss. Is she trying to tell me her people are...what, magicians? Fairies? Gypsies? __**What are you doing to me, woman!**_ Marie practically screams in her head. Gathering from the amused expression on the other woman, Marie is certain Mu knows what she's doing to her. But she can't muster any anger at seemingly being played like this. So with a frustrated sigh, she thinks _Confusing me, eh? How's that going to help your credibility?_ irritated, but still following Mu's lead to get up and leave.

Only to be proven wrong, as if she read her mind, as Mu turns to regard her once more "I assure you I am not trying to confuse you, although, for now, it may seem that way. I do, however, need you to keep an open mind for possibilities that might not fit into the neatly fixed expectations of the order in the universe."

"That's rather..grand, considering our, your 'conversation' just now..but fine, alright, I won't push. Who knows why, but here I go..don't go." she groans "You know what I mean. Anyway, I am with the police, even though it might not seem that way, so, just when you think you've seen it all, one lunatic steps out to set the bar just that bit higher. Even after all this time. I think I can handle the uncommon."

"Good." With an approving smile, even though Marie did hide a bit of an insult in there, and the request "Shall we?" Mu, much to the all too welcome unease of Marie, interlocks one arm with the other woman and sets off on the way back to their transport, shortening her own steps again significantly for the head-shaking Marie.

–

Almost at the parking lot, Marie excuses herself out of the increasingly comfortable hold of Mu, digging in her pocket for the ringing comm. The display shows that it is James trying to contact her, so she steps a few feet away, as to not be overheard unnecessarily. _Remember, good ears... _Accepting the call, Marie greets her colleague "Hello, James." and asks curiously "I didn't expect a call from you, especially not so soon. What are you doing in your office on a saturday? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I don't expect to have much time, but I wanted to warn you, our boss is going to call you soon." With a raised eyebrow and a quiet "Oh?" Marie listens intently "Seems like the higher-ups, or maybe theirs, have caught on to our poking around. Whatever we found or they think we might find or...well, you know where I'm going..they made their move to block us-Where exactly are you?" While conveying his warning, James tries to look around Marie's head blocking his view, as he notices something is off in the comm picture's background. The missing of either white structures or an equally colored mountain range surrounding Marie has him barely containing himself from asking that last question, until he at least made a bit of sense.

"Well.." Marie doesn't look directly into the comm-screen, into James eyes, so she doesn't notice his raising brow. "We stopped in Aimerse for a bit. Just, you know, a little break on an otherwise uninteresting three hour flight."

"Oh? I didn't peg your company to be uninteresting." He smirks.

"Well, no, of course not. She's...interesting, to say the least. Always mysterious, cryptic really, but quite charmingly so. Definitely hiding something strange behind that lovely smile of hers, she's clearly recognizing my attempts to inquire further, but blatantly ignoring it and just soldering on to where her pretty head tells her to go. It certainly wasn't boring, no. Oh, this'll be the commander." Marie explains the beeping they both hear suddenly and with a quick "Talk to you later." she simply hangs up on James, leaving him behind in his office, staring wide eyed at the 'Connection Closed' sign on his comm.

On the other end of the new connection between Marie and her superior, the burly man, after a greeting properly, gets straight to the point "Castaneda, I'm not going to hold you for long on your days off, so I'll give you a heads up as short as I can: This morning, some people with more say than myself **and** my superiors walked into my office and made it very clear that this investigation of yours was not something they appreciated. Imagine my surprise." Marie keeps quiet, knowing that the man will ask, if he needs answers or explanations.

"Unless you kept looking after leaving," his brown eyes bore right into her own, showing very clearly that he knows she did " and found out more, I can't see anything from what you told me that suggests you stepped on their toes. But, if that story about a governmental conspiracy holds true, they might be watching your every step and find you're getting too close to whatever it is they don't want us to see." He takes a deep breath. "I don't like that. Dig deeper." Though very surprised to receive such an order, Marie only nods in agreement.

"Don't worry about backing. Since it provoked this reaction, I'm with you. But I can't help you outright, wherever you might be now and I know you're not at home – where I told you to be – and Harwing seems to have lost his voice in my presence. So I'm just going to repeat myself: Keep your guard up." After a short moment of silently staring at his subordinate, "Is there anything you want to add?" he asks, without expecting a completely truthful answer.

"I..." Scratching the back of her head in embarrassment of being caught, Marie continues with a cough "Ah, no, nothing new at least, sir."

Staring for another moment, he relents "Very well. Contact me when you do find something, or if something happens." With a smirk, he adds "Enjoy your vacation, Castaneda." and ends the transmission.

_Oh boy..he doesn't believe me. Well, why would he, he's not stupid. Seeing him makes me think I might be, though...considering I haven't locked her up in a nicely padded cell and myself in the one right next to hers. Now I'm here, now I'll go where this takes me..little choice left, hm, Marie?_

"Ready, captain?" Mu reminds Marie to come back to focus. As she turns around, she spots Mu's smirk. "Surely you could have told your commanding officer that you are with me?"

"How did you...Good guess, or did you hear?" Not waiting for an answer, she walks over to the flyer. "Keep that up and I'll be easily ready to believe your magic speech from earlier. And no, I didn't tell him. This whole thing is hardly common procedure, but, as I told him, I didn't learn anything new or feel like I have to fear a threat..." her eyes narrow and she stares Mu right in the eyes "I don't, do I?"

"Certainly not from me, nor my family." Mu says with a serious expression.

"So, for the moment, I don't have to make this any more complicated than necessary for anyone involved. Especially myself, because this" she points to herself, then to Mu "is really not easy to explain." _It's not like I understood it myself, how could I explain it to anyone else._ "Well then, you said you'd like to go, so let's go."

Under the amused scrutiny of the other woman, Marie takes the lead on their walk back to the flyer.


	21. Chapter 18

"Sir, a report has just arrived. You really need to see this." A clerk hands a printout to the man in a lab coat. He is working in the room adjacent to the observation chamber he and his female colleague were in, to work on separate problems, when they were last interrupted. Leaning back, half sitting on his desk, he reads through the short report, expressing, in succession, surprise, annoyance and finally worry. He instructs the clerk to send for his colleague.

"Already.."

"...here" The woman says right on cue, entering the room. "What's going on?" She asks.

Handing her the print, he says "Apparently our drone lost its target." Waiting for his colleague to read through the report as well and look up to him again, he points at the pad in her hand "And according to that, it's not malfunctioning, nor is there an indication of any kind of interference. It just veered off course slightly then corrected and the target is gone."

"How is that possible? It's just transmitting a video stream and positional data. How can a simple camera following something suddenly lose its target? With the target in sight even!" The woman already thinking of all kinds of possibilities, dismissing most of them for logical reasons, and some, like teleportation, as her too active imagination.

"That's a very good question." He turns to the clerk "Is there anything during their stopover? What did they do, anyway?"

"Er..well, they just shared a drink. Nothing else."

"Hmm.." Now at the end of his wits as well, he notices the same expression on his colleague he expects to have on his own face "This is not good. It's about 200 kilometers from Aimerse to the outskirts of the range itself. They could be anywhere in there already, never mind the entire length and width of the range." He walks over to a computer at the other end of the room, calling up a few data sheets, while mumbling "How much of Sassam is surveyed anyway? In a way we could use, of course."

"Currently, starting right in the middle, in each direction just over fifteen hundred of the eight thousand kilometer span are photographed in a high enough resolution and a combination of filters to detect any life signs. The higher-ups don't care much for the exploration of that area. They've probed for anything they could mine, didn't find anything and dropped the subject. Private funding has only been found a few years ago, to rent satellite time for further exploration. And they don't get many spots in the schedule." The woman explains.

"Well, that's what happens when you're confident you had every angle covered." he sighs. "I suggest a group of surveillance drones, say 5, more if we can get some, spread along the outskirts of that town and further out. We should cover some 100 kilometer width with that. For when they come back, I mean. It is highly unlikely they chose a different route than the one they took to get there. But for now, let's assume they'll stay and see that our operation is happening this evening." He says.

"I agree. At least drones we have enough of. I don't think we should report this just yet. So far, it doesn't change much. We'll get another opportunity to send a team after them, instead of some inflexible drone. If we don't get a better opportunity to snatch her right away before that, of course." The woman says with a sigh.

"It'll be best for our heads as well, I think. I like mine where it is. Don't want to lose it, just because some equipment could be tricked." he jokes.

Laughing, the woman exits the room to return to her own work.

–

"We will be arriving in just under an hour."

This time, at their liftoff from the roof of the parking area, Marie's mind isn't distracted with so many thoughts, she can take her time to look over the small town from above, taking in the sights she isn't likely to see again any time soon. _While it's a nice town, it's not even much of a vacation spot. _

But she does plan to keep it in the back of her mind, visiting again. She isn't particularly put off by the fact that the picture in her mind, of the woman now next to her, then sitting at the same table, the two enjoying each others company, doesn't seem to want to exchange for her sitting there alone.

"So back to the main topic." Marie turns away from the sight, focusing on the other woman who's just putting the last few commands into the flyer's systems. "There's something I have been meaning to ask..." _She doesn't need to know she managed to make me forget to ask it..._ "When you had your research going and these people approached you, did you never think to check on them, check through names of their employees – your coworkers – and such?"

"Oh, of course I did. Well, initially, I did not look into the normal staff, but I did try to find out about those in the suits. The information I found, so long as we assume it was truthful, suggested they were businessmen through and through." When the other woman is finished with her inputs and faces her, Marie is somewhat relieved to find the open expression she's seeing. _So you're finally coming to terms with the fact that this is still...well, at least some kind of interrogation?_

"And, while they had had a few deals that might even have caught the interest of the police, they seemed to be careful enough to leave nothing I could find to use as leverage against them." Mu's hand twitches, almost holding it up, but she realizes it is not necessary, when Marie is just quietly waiting for more information to come forth, instead of questioning her methods again. "I did look into it as thoroughly as I was able. Being in business myself allowed me to see quite a bit more than the police could have, I believe. I understand it is anything but easy to gain access to company records and business internals, yes?"

"True, yes."

"I could not go further than find out that these people had investors in the form yet other companies. Aside from the publicly available overview of those, I was unable to procure more details of their owners. These companies, however, were, as per public knowledge, working on governmental contracts, as well as for the defense industry.. Those two connections were as far as I could trace the involvement of the government. No obvious or hidden money trails or other kind of support. In itself, the contents of those two connections were very much so legal. They took a lot of precaution."

The flyer's hums are the only sounds inside the cabin, as it makes its way over the landscape, dotted with small wooded areas, all natural fields and even a few water bodies of varying sizes. "Seems like you thought of everything, **except **inform us." she sighs. "I'm still not convinced it wouldn't have been the better choice. We aren't completely powerless, you know? There might even have been people who wanted to talk."

Slightly distraught, Mu concedes "You make another valid point. However, I made it quite obvious I was looking into the project, a lot more than they should have expected. They should have been well aware of my wariness when...things started to turn against their plans, or at least I like to think the latter. This, then, should have made it abundantly clear to any of the involved parties that I was going against them, so if any one of them had an incline to support me, all they would have had to do was approach me. I never displayed animosity towards those whom I did not know about. Innocent until proven guilty, so to speak."

"Sounds more like wishful thinking than anything." Marie groans. _She doesn't seem to show any remorse to all that. But then, what else is she supposed to do, it's not like it's possible to fix any of this anymore. _"So there is at least a slight chance that there's anyone left for me to find who might actually want to talk." shaking her head, she mutters under her breath "Got to grasp for straws now, huh?" forgetting that the other woman can still easily hear her. _Can you believe it's only been two days?_

With the flight over the tundra, leading up to the sky-piercing, near thirteen kilometer high mountain range almost behind them, Marie takes a closer look at their surroundings, searching for any sign of life. Immersed in her search, combined with having her head swirling with thoughts about Mu and her ridiculous hint-ish remarks, as well as the constant new hurdles the woman puts in her way, she is startled when she's suddenly being addressed. She doesn't even entertain the thought that this went unnoticed anymore.

_Great show there, Castaneda. You're doing well, representing the dignity of the police. No hope she might not have noticed..just look at that smirk. Oh boy.._ She thinks, realizing how much she's actually starting to look forward to meeting the parents of this peculiar woman.

Smirking right back, though less from amusement, Marie asks "Sorry, what did you say?"

"That we are still about twenty minutes from my home. There is little to see until then." _So she knows what I was looking for? What the heck? _"Though some might find the location soothing, I do find it much too bland. I suppose I should not simply assume you are increasingly...excited." Mu's apologetic smirk has little effect, as her eyes reflect just as much of the teasing she is not showing on her face.

"I'm not-" Marie starts indignantly, despite realizing she's been teased, only too late, courtesy to her jumbled thoughts. "Well yeah, in a sense, I am excited, of course. Before I got involved with you," unguarded, the other meaning of the slip escapes both them "I never even thought that there could be people this far out in the nowheres. So, of course I am interested to see who actually chooses that kind of lifestyle. As you already noted, it's already rare for me to get as far out of City as our last stop."

The teasing fades into a gentle smile "You really miss out on many, quite lovely places. They are all around you." chidingly shaking her head, she shrugs "The city people rather keep themselves within the confines of their known borders. That is a sad thing, I think."

"Says the one building said city, living in it and being known for not taking much time off work in years." Marie summarizes her acquired information. Her eyebrow raises with every word and, smirking, she looks directly into Mu's golden eyes.

Only to find them suddenly very close seconds later, accompanied by a whispered "You have beautiful eyes."

_You too! Too close! Too smile!_ _Oh boy!_ Not wanting to show the cringe she felt at her thoughts, now really just a mess because of the sudden turn of events, leaves Marie to forcibly stare wide eyed into the depth of gold. _Where did that one come from?_ Nonetheless she notices in detail, the parting of Mu's warm smile to release the amazed and bewildered words "I do not know why I did not notice this earlier," Mu says, amused, while leaning back slightly again "apart from our meeting for the first time. At which, you might imagine, I was more concerned with my rudeness. Nevertheless, you really do look remarkably like her."

_More distractions? Not unappreciated this time...Does she have no concept of personal space? _With a cursedly dry mouth and a scratchy voice, Marie manages to ask "Who might that be?"_ What's with these sudden changes in topic and behavior? _

"I am sorry." Mu straightens up in her seat, obviously realizing that what she just did to Marie was not the right thing to do. _Or is she apologizing for something else? _But Marie can't find anything in her scrambled thoughts that might warrant an apology. _**Nothing**__, really...which in itself is bad enough. _

"I have a liking for a particular type of music. Jazz, if you know it." She regards Marie with a slight tilt to her head, apparently expecting some form of answer. Marie gives one in the form of no more than a simple nod, still trying to swallow the dryness out of her throat. _Wouldn't want to start squeaking or somesuch...that'd be the end of me._

"Long gone now, on Earth, there was an ensemble of musicians, the lead singer of which had a striking resemblance to you." Apparently not one to learn from her mistakes, Mu inches closer to Marie once more, staring into her eyes with a smirk. "It makes me wonder if your voice is of the same quality. However, alas, I have neither heard yours with, nor hers without melody. I imagine, though, the qualities remain the same, would you sing and she speak."

Noticing the flush and bewilderment on Marie's face, Mu abruptly sits upright and changes topics yet again "To answer your underlying question: I have been confined in City, by choice, for a while now. I alternated a few times along the years, but, in total, I have been in these lands much longer, enjoying everything there is – or was, as much is lost – to see, rather than holed up in the confines of ."

On cue of a beep, Mu turns back to her console, effectively eliminating Marie's chance to inquire about the absurd implication of a timeline. _Well, it would no doubt be fruitless anyhow. Last guess I'm going to make, before I stop being so lenient, is that she's waiting for a place on her home turf to reveal anything. I suppose that's what anyone would do, if they have the chance._ Leaning her much too warm cheek into her hand, propped up on her seat's armrest. Appreciating the scenery outside, she now finds mostly white, dotted with small groups of conifer like trees, green and thorny as back on earth, but far from the same. _Come to think of it, how long has it been since I've seen snow..._


	22. Chapter 19

At the end of heir flight through two valleys, framed by immense walls of snowy scenery, their path leads straight towards a large chunk of rock, which had Marie slightly worried, but she assumes that it will be behind that formation, where they will land. As if responding to that, the flyer banks to their right, taking a large arch around the rocks, swinging the other way at the apex.

"The house should come into view now." Mu announces and so it does. Starting with the fields Mu mentioned, it turns into a very strange scenery very quickly. On the ground all around and beneath their vehicle, seemingly endless, snow covered mountainous plains spread in all directions, but, tucked into the corner of the massive valley, a huge patch of green and yellow indicate fields and small flecks of tree groups.

Amidst those, a very large house was built. The long since unused design of roof tiling shaping a wave-like two-peak roof, leveling out on two sides, which forms what seems like a wood-floored, second-story roof-deck. On one side of the ground floor underneath, a pool and a large area with a long table and numerous chairs on the other. By all accounts, it looks as if summer is at its peak in this corner of the mountain range.

"How is that possible?" Marie asks in wide-eyed awe whisper, turning to Mu.

"Magic." Is the only answer she receives from the warmly smiling woman, still focused on the landing procedures, as they slowly approach the ground. Marie can already see a person standing under the roof-deck, but she isn't able to see any details, beyond the fact that the person is halting in their actions on what appears to be wood work, apparently watching the approaching vehicle from underneath a hand that shields the eyes against the sun.

The flyer sets down smoothly onto a small landing pad a short way off from the house and Marie is surprised to find Mu, staring out, without focusing on anything, take a deep breath. _Mental preparation to meet your family? _As time and again before, Mu seems to guess Marie's thoughts and throws a small, and she assumes reassuring, smile her way. "Shall we, then?"

While Marie and Mu step out of the flyer, the person from the house approaches their landing spot. Marie grabs their two bags on their way out, assuming the other woman forgot them in her anticipation of greeting a family member. _Oh well, it's not like there's much. _Heaving them out of the cargo hold, she finally exits the machine as well.

Placing the bags on the floor to her side, she looks up, surprised to find Mu standing prim and proper, including folded hands at the small of her back, rather obviously showing her nervousness and excitement. When she turns her head to regard the approaching figure, she finds a warm and welcoming smile on a woman clad in a plain gray sweater and a simple pair of jeans, quite obviously well used.

Long blonde, very nearly white hair, the latter usually reserved mostly for people approaching their early hundredth years of age, frames a face that makes the woman seem just about of equal age to Mu. _Astonishing._ _It actually is white. The sun gives it a little yellow tint, but it really is white. Remarkable. _ With the thought in mind to ask if this is Mu's sister – should the introduction not answer that question – she turns to Mu and is stunned into further silence.

Just like their first encounter, as well as spotting Mu in the sunlight of the parking area in City, the sun once again literally illuminates the woman and, just like before, an aura seems to envelop her. Reappearing as well is the strange coloring of her hair, turquoise flowing into blue, ending with purple a slight bit below her derriere. Which in itself stands nicely, quite firm to Marie's astounded view, not that she noticed.

Forcing herself to drag her line of sight upwards again, she can see the the flickering protrusions from Mu's rear body once again. This time, standing a little closer and with the sun's intensity much stronger this high up, Marie is now certain they form wings and a tail. _What's this about? What did she say, fairies? But fairies don't have tails...Monsters? What the..just..no. _Certain that it has to be an effect from Mu's crazy questions and implications, Marie rubs her eyes.

When she opens them again, the forms are gone. _There has to be an explanation for this. Not...that I can ask. Can I? I have a feeling I actually can..but not yet._ She forcibly reminds herself of her current situation – the arrival of another member of this strange family. What feels to Marie like minutes of inappropriate staring, turn out to be merely seconds, because, just as she turns around, the new arrival stops a few feet away from the two of them. Mu has visibly relaxed, but still not said anything or even moved much, aside from now fidgeting with her hands and fingers in front of her.

Marie senses a familial, affectionate exchange on a level, she reckons, doesn't exists anywhere outside from claims of those who believe in the paranormal. She felt as if she was intruding on a very intimate affair. What surprised, and annoyed her even more was the pang of what she could only describe as jealousy she suddenly felt. _Don't be ridiculous, Castaneda. This is a family member, for goodness sake. Never mind being__** jealous**__ in the first place! Jealous of what? What are you thinking! _She scolds herself.

Finally, just as she is about to retreat into the flyer, to give the two women a bit more privacy, they start moving again, both breaking out full smiles, they come together in a hug. It shows the difference in height between the two, Mu being an entire head taller than the other woman, who in turn is still a bit taller than Marie. This, however, does not help Marie's feeling of intruding, but the moment lasts considerably less long than the initial meeting.

So, finally, the normal proceedings proceed. That means, most important of all, introduction of the white haired woman. "Police Captain Marie Castaneda, meet Ainsley Lunastra, my mother." Mu announces, waving between the two.

"Mo-" _Mother? _Marie begins, surprised for the third time in the row of happenings, but realizes that it's a bit rude to respond like that, and covers it up by a cough, twitching her already outstretched hand to her mouth. It doesn't escape her notice that Mu wants to respond to that, but Marie prevents it with a proper greeting. "Nice to meet you, Ma'am." _She really does hear awfully good._

Holding out her hand again to shake the nicely sun-tanned hand of the other woman. "Please, just Ainsley will suffice."

For now, Marie makes a mental note to ask about the rather uncommon names of both these women and walks, following, a step behind the two, towards the house. Lost in thought, Mu has to address Marie twice until she is sure to be heard when saying "You were surprised this is my mother?"

"Oh please, dear, you still want to get others to flatter me this roundabout way?" Her mother says with a swat to Mu's arm. "You should not do that."

"It is true, though. You look barely older than your..daughter." Marie says, a slight hesitation that doesn't go unnoticed.

"A gift from the universe, wouldn't you agree?" The bright smile on Ainsley's face resembling the one of her daughter. "In the end, though, I am almost three times her age." She reveals freely. "This gray on my head was there since birth. I quite like it, so I never bothered with...coloring it, unlike my daughter here."

_So that's where the different colors come from? But blue? Green? Shining through deep, silky, beautifully long black? _Marie shakes her head. _I mean...Ah stop it. Yes, she's beautiful, what's the harm in thinking it._ As her eyes were drawn back to the tall woman yet again, Marie notices herself being scrutinized by two sets of eyes, one of which has locked with her own. _Goodness, __those eyes...they look like someone bled into them._

When she flashes a small smile, the other women..at least one of them, turn back forward. _This inattention of mine is really getting out of hand._ Ignoring the fact that the blood-red eyes that were just staring at her really tried to size her up. _What mother, whose daughter comes along after however long with a stranger from the police in tow, wouldn't be. Though I would've guessed Lunastra...Mu would have called before coming here. First impression seemed to support just that, the mother waiting at the front door and all._

They arrive where Marie first spotted Ainsley, which let her confirm that she actually waited at the front door. It being the one they are now being led through, on Ainsley's request to have them all make themselves comfortable in the living room "I would prefer to sit down with a nice cup of tea for any conversation, don't you agree?"

They walk into the cozily styled living room, where Ainsley asks her daughter to prepare a pot of tea and Marie takes her time to look around. _A genuine fireplace. These don't exist anywhere in City anymore...I wonder if__ it would be as nice as it seems, to sit at one in the evenings. With this company.._ She peers at Mu's receding back. _Quite handsome, these living conditions._ "Mu mentioned you work on and in the house. I assume you make most of this yourself?" Marie points to the wooden chairs, table, cupboards and cabinets.

Yet again Marie finds herself under the scrutiny of two narrow red eyes. It takes only a moment and Marie finds herself glad not to falter under the gaze. _There's some real scary woman hidden behind that smile...What did I do to you?_ The friendly smile back, Marie receives her answer "Why yes, I do. Thank you for assuming that right away." without any hint of animosity. "Please, have a seat." she points to one of the chairs. "Mu didn't announce her visit, so excuse my surprise and directness when asking who, exactly, you might be and what you, and the police have to do with my daughter."

Mu appears out of what is likely the kitchen, carrying a tray with three cups and what appears to be an antique, steaming teapot. It doesn't escape Marie, though, that a hint of the aroma of coffee drifts around the room. It is Mu, then, who responds to her mother's inquiry. "Marie, Captain Castaneda is with the district security of City and she came along, because I insisted on coming here. More or less on the behalf of Athana, because she said I would benefit greatly from doing so." while setting down the cups around, in front of the other women and the pot in the middle between them.

Marie receives a cup of fresh brewed coffee, the smell immediately sending her thoughts back to Mu's apartment, which almost puts a flush on her face. She manages to wrestle it down and accepts the coffee with a smile and "Thank you very much." towards Mu, who smiles back warmly. The moment is broken, when they return to topic, which also makes both women aware separately that they have been watched.

"The police, then." Ainsley states, observing Marie once again. "Surely Mu didn't go overboard with some mischief?" Very narrow eyes now glaring at her once again. _My goodness, I thought red eyes are supposed to look fiery when angered. I've never felt so cold in my life! And we just exited onto a snowy mountain! I didn't even do anything yet, to warrant being glared at? _Marie doesn entirely manage to suppress a shiver that makes its way down her spine and lets her hairs stand on end. She would swear that that brought forth a satisfied smirk on the older woman.

"Ah..no. Really, no. It's just..we found her public data altered and private information missing almost entirely. Seeing how that's usually impossible, an investigation was set up." Though not the factual, Marie allows herself to shorten the explanation, if only to get away from the scrutiny. "And no, we do not suspect her, not anymore anyways. But there seems to be a larger scheme behind it all. If everything your daughter said turns out true, there is a distinct possibility that this turns into a...quite problematic case for both our sides."

Deciding that it's best to get it all out of the way while she has the opportunity of not having enraged the mother yet, she concludes "I can't even rule out the possibility that there is danger of bodily harm to, at the very least, her. As such, I..well, I accompany Mu on a visit insisted upon by Ms. Daora." _And now just to hope she doesn't realize that's not proper procedure..._

After a moment of considering what is now said, "Thank you for laying it all out, Captain." the attention lifts from her and Marie sighs quietly, observing the ensuing exchange between mother and daughter. _She receives the news about her daughter being the seeming target of a 'greater plot' quite calmly. On to learn some family dynamics here, I hope. _"What could be so urgent, that it made Athana send you here with a police escort, even though you supposedly did nothing wrong?"

_What, she doesn't even ask about any of this? _Luckily Marie knows how to school her expression, – at least when she isn't blindsided with the kind of behavior Mu displayed over the course of the day – leaving it attentive, but showing not even a hint of the surprise she feels. _This is a first. _With an apologetic smile, Mu looks at Marie "I..would like to discuss this later, mother. In private. I apologize and no offense, Marie."

"None taken. I'm just here to" Stopping herself before she lets slip that she has the strange feeling, almost urge to believe Mu, but only a vague idea of why she actually went with this plan, she drifts off "...well..I mean, you know. Anyway, eavesdropping on personal matters is out of my jurisdiction." _Never mind that I'm not on duty, let alone supposed to be here. _Marie thinks, regarding the other two women with a grin. Only to be met with an expressionless face by the older of the two. _Great.._ "I..would it be okay for me to look around for a bit? I'm sure there is some catching up to do between the two of you."

Marie gets up and regards Ainsley, but Mu interjects "We already did catch up." she says, smiling. "I would, however, be happy to show you around." to which her mother nods, at last not trying to intimidate Marie anymore. "Okay.." It prompts a raised eyebrow from Marie _They already did? What, that staring contest outside? _when Mu's voice pops into her head, saying the word 'Magic' once again. _No, stop it. Just no...right?_ Marie follows Mu out of the living room, apparently starting their tour of the house, while Ainsley heads toward one of the large sliding window-doors leading out to a porch.


	23. Chapter 20

They walk around the invitingly open hallways of the ground floor, generously decorated with or constructed with the light brown wood, Mu introduces her to the highlights of her family's accommodation. "It seems you will not meet everyone today. Father is away with a family friend, they are likely to be back sometime early tomorrow, while my sister should be around here somewhere." _When did she find out that her father isn't here? I was there the whole time, this never came up..._ "I am surprised she was not with my mother when we landed. Nevertheless you are going to be here a while, so you are likely to meet her."

The other woman leads Marie to the second floor, which Mu hadn't shown Marie, as there are only the family's and the guest's rooms. _I thought she said they only get few visits here. Why have more than one guest room? Then again, it's not as if they're lacking space, so they probably just couldn't find any other use for them. _A thought that makes her smirk. "It's really an impressive home you have here. In the middle of nowhere, to boot."

Still admiring her surroundings, she almost stumbles over a green-pink flash of a thing dashing from a room to her left, into one on her right. "What the..!" she shouts out, trying to hold her balance. Finding it by holding herself up on a door frame, she takes a look around and spots a small mop of pink hair at the edge of the frame on the opposite side of the hallway. "Who.." She looks up to see if Mu noticed the incident, to find her having set down the bags she picked up at the bottom of the stairs and marching towards the door the blur disappeared into.

"My dear sister Ronit, do come out of your room, or I will see myself forced to drag you out." Mu says with a calm voice, yet chilly enough that it even manages to send a shiver down Marie's spine. _I do __**not**_ _want to be in the girls place now._ Which explains why it doesn't take long until the small, pink haired head pops up, looking out the door, up to her sister. The size difference of the woman glaring down on the little figure looking innocently upward makes it hard for Marie to suppress a laugh. _What's with the hair color...it does fit her strangely well, though._

Suddenly, the green dressed bundle wraps itself around Mu's waist, vigorously greeting the tall woman with "About time you got back!" and "It's been so long!", which softens up the looming face considerably and elicits a few calmingly hushed words and a dose of pats for the small head.

"Marie, this is my little sister Rathnait, though she will prefer Ronit. She is not the most comfortable around visitors, but it is likely she will warm up to you." Mu says in a tone, that makes it sound as if there was something – maybe an 'in particular' – following, but cut herself off before anything slipped through.

Marie's eyebrow raises at the comment, but she accepts it as is and tries to greet her tripping hazard, who, in turn, tries to vanish as much as possible behind the behind of Mu. Marie settles for a small wave and "Hello. I'm Marie.", watching for a moment longer and then standing straight again. Looking up to Mu, she admits "I'm not that good with kids..", at which the small figure behind the other woman suddenly comes out of hiding and regards Marie seriously.

"But you will be." she says resolutely and adds "Because you're good." only to buzz off in another flash, leaving behind a bewildered Marie and a wide-eyed Mu.

The former addressing the latter "I'm good with what?"

Mu ponders that question, and the context it raised from, for a second "Well, you see, Ronit is clairvoyant, so I assume she foresees you will learn to better interact with children, perhaps become a good mother in your future. Which is how I interpret her comment. She is unlikely able to define her, rather sudden, point." interjecting, before Marie can comment "Aside from her shyness, her ability still has a long way to grow. It is very likely she did not..hm..'see' more than what she just said."

The skeptical look with which Marie regards the other woman is well intended, not so the sarcastic tone of voice when saying "Clairvoyance. Right. So, magic again, huh?" But it only elicits a brighter smile from Mu. _Am I being mocked?_ _Open mind, open mind...locked padded cell, if this goes on. For me rather than for them, considering I still believe her. And that kid..something about her is a bit off. And I don't mean the hair color._

She lets out a small laugh, which seems to leave the other woman unperturbed. "Shall we proceed to your room?" asks Mu, effectively disintegrating Marie's thoughts, while lifting the discarded bags again, dropping one of them in a room to their left and carrying the one belonging to Marie into the one on the opposite side of the hall.

Following her bag, Marie enters the large room with a wood floor and plaster walls, a huge window overlooking the fields around the house and the majestic scenery of the mountain range in the background. An invitingly cozy single bed, a warm atmosphere, so very unlike many of the modern, somewhat sterile look most homes have in City. Including Marie's own, in comparison, she realizes.

"This is really nice." Marie walks up to the window and admires the view over the surreal scenery outside. _If there wasn't a different reason I'm here, I'd say I chose a great vacation spot. They should rent out. I'd come for a visit..._ She thinks and turns around to a brightly smiling Mu. _Especially with this company._ adds her mind and makes her cough, to hide any indications of her thoughts directions, showing in the form of a flush to her cheeks.

"I am glad you like it. I had really hoped that would be the case, but I do not know you well enough, yet." Mus sets down Marie's bag next to the bed and proceeds to show her the adjourning bathroom and where to find the toiletry.

Once finished, she turns to Marie and offers quietly "I would suggest I go speak with my mother now, while I leave you to make yourself comfortable here." Standing in the doorway, Mu fidgets slightly, not really willing to leave just yet. "I can show you to the kitchen, where you can help yourself to something to drink, if you so wish. Or maybe you would like to enjoy the sun, out on the terrace." Slightly flustered, she sighs "Please, make yourself at home and enjoy your stay, at least in regards of comfort."

_Goodness, she's cute. _"I..." Surprised by the thought, though not the cause. The flustered way Mu searches for things to do for her warms her own cheeks slightly. Clearing her throat, Marie quickly continues "That's very nice of you, thanks." She picks up her bag and puts it on the bed "I guess I'll unpack and then go sit outside for the time being." Walking over to the windows, she opens one of them, once again surprised about the comfortably temperate fresh air streaming in

"The weather seems good up here, strangely enough. Who would've thought it to be possible to sit outside in comfort on a snowy mountain. I've got to try that." Marie smirks "But, you know, I'm the one intruding, so I'll find some way to fill my time. There's no need for you to go out of your way to find something for me to do. Anyway, don't mind me, I certainly won't be bored out here. You go have the obviously important talk." and ushers Mu out of what is, for at least the next 48 hours, her room.

Before she closes the door behind Mu, though, she stops the other woman "One more thing, if I may ask. What's the name of your father?"

"Of course you may ask." Mu regards Marie with a slightly puzzled look. "His name is Comgan. We share his surname. Do you have a particular reason to ask?"

"Just curious. Now, I'll see you later." answers Marie, waving a goodbye with a smile.

–

Marie rummages around her bag, taking out and arranging what she might need along the day and already approaching evening, until she reaches what she was actually searching for, her comm. _How did this slip so far down there..._

Thinking about the days events, and the people she met, an oddity that she noticed earlier and only came back to her just now, when she decided to ask Mu about her father's name. _This family has an impressive range of strange names. She said they all have meanings...I should get James to look them up. _So, finally back in possession of her comm, she calls and relays the names for James to research.

As he notes them down, he asks amusedly "So how is it up there? Are you cuddling up to stop freezing yet or do they at least have a heater there?"

Marie can't prevent the flush to her face on the image that James' comment elicits, but answers as dignified as she can still manage "I'll have you know it's quite nice 'up here'. Incredibly enough. Maybe there's some sort of hotspot volcano thing right under here that keeps this little place like it's spring, but it's really an amazing sight to behold. All in all, it's a little like a huge farm, except it's set in a valley, surrounded by snow. They really should transform this into a hotel or some such."

"Sounds good, then. So I assume you're enjoying yourself while you actually shouldn't, but due to circumstances still can?" he says, scratching his head, over what he just said. "I mean..uh..what do I mean?"

Before he can answer himself, seeing how he made a face as it just came to him, Marie beats him to it "I know I shouldn't be here, yes. You made your point back at the office. From the looks of things, though, it won't take that much time. I'll be back on Monday morning, without anyone noticing I missed." She doesn't mention how her Commander caught her out on her evasion, – _Because it was not a lie. No, sir._ – but notices James' smirk at that comment and resignedly gathers _Wonderful, he knows.__ I'm never going to hear the end of that._

"Speaking of whom, what did he say? All he told me was that there were some unhappy suits."

As he talks, Marie walks back to the windows, watching as a thick cloud, covering one of the peaks a bit away, unloads a white flurry of snow. "Well, he didn't tell me any more either, only that they specifically talked about this current investigation and that he would appreciate it if I kept looking, now that I found something worth looking into."

Thinking it over for a moment, she recalls the rather strange way her superior said he had been told to stop investigating. "I find it very strange that these people were so direct. They must be quite full of themselves, daring that kind of move and expecting not to be booked for it on the spot."

"At least it indicates strongly that your CEO might be telling the truth. If she'd be involved in that and then this happened...well, that would mean the whole lot of them is just dumb." Marie agrees and James starts rummaging around his desk, seemingly planning to gather up his stuff to go home. "Alright, I'll leave you to it. I'll get around to check the names on Monday, seeing how it's almost time to go home now and those won't make much of a difference, now will they. I'll see you Monday and have fun now." he says and disconnects to return to his leaving for the weekend, leaving Marie to return to unpacking.


	24. Chapter 21

With everything unpacked, Marie takes another lingering look out of her room's window and, since she's already up on the second floor, decides to take a look outside in the day's remaining sunshine. _After all, who knows if it won't get icy-cold here at night. Seems like it would do that._ Exiting her room, she walks toward the door Mu indicated leads to the upper floor's terrace. _Here I am, wearing a shirt, going out in a place where it's freezing everywhere around, __**except **__for this spot. I'm really looking forward to the explanation to this._ She opens the door and steps out into a comfortable weather that she could not imagine when she left City.

The sun shines down on a wood-floor, the material used almost everywhere in the house, terrace the size of many of City's people's entire homes. To her left is a small collection of variously sized, but identically designed couches and arm chairs, covered entirely by a large parasol, currently folded up. In front of her, continuing a little further to the right, a C-shaped table, arranged around a large barbeque grill, offers invitingly comfortable looking chairs; a handful of deckchairs leaning on the wall on the same side.

Admiring the view, she can easily see herself relaxing up here. _Something to drink and sitting up here sounds like a really good pastime._ With that thought in mind, she heads back in and along the hall, looking out for a return of the tripping hazard, but the little girl apparently has better things to do.

As per Mu's earlier instructions, she goes down to the ground floor, waking toward where she's been told she can find the kitchen. _To think all this was built by one person. I just can't believe she did it all by herself._ Marie thinks, as she notices the quite large wooden beams holding the ceiling in place and enters the kitchen. Kitchen area really, as it is more the size of most peoples' living rooms, especially with the dinette designed for comfortably seating six people and enough space for a service cart to make its way all around.

Marie turns to the huge, rustic center island and cabinets, a large electrical oven, set next to a wood-burning one. On top of the vast countertop several machinations are placed in a, even at first glance logically accessible arrangement. Among those machines, she finds what she's looking for. _I really shouldn't, but hers..theirs tastes so incredibly good. L_ooking around slightly sheepish, she makes herself a fresh brew of coffee with the automatic, nearly soundless unit.

It is then, that she catches the voices carrying over from somewhere outside, through the ajar hopper window. _Mu and her mother. _As the two women talk on and Marie's comprehension of their topic grows the more of the conversation floated in, she can't stop herself from listening in. _And yet again something coincidental, that just can't be. I mean, how bloody likely is it, for me to arrive here at this time in their conversation? _she thinks.

Because just after she starts to hear the voices, she can clearly identify Mu saying "As I told you before, it was Athana who said I should come over and talk to you. What exactly she meant that I tell you, I do not know, but it she started insisting, after I told her how I...I happened to have shown...the policewoman, Marie, the...my egg." she stammers out in a worried voice. _Was that..embarrassment? _

Having heard that story before, more importantly having been there when it happened, she might have missed it, but one difference registers quite well _'My egg'? Hers? Hers how? From a pet? But there wasn't any...especially nothing that big._

Marie can't hear the sharp intake of breath from Ainsley, neither can she see the surprised look on the woman's face, that turns to resignation after Mu adds "But, you see, I did not just show it to her on a whim. I noticed she..somehow reacted to its presence. She..you do know I have it kept in a locked room, yes?"

Apparently satisfied with the response neither visible nor audible to Marie, Mu continues in an unsure tone. "Well, she..Marie, she seemed to be drawn to it. I saw how she wanted to...if nothing else, get closer to it. And, well..then and there it seemed alright to show her. I felt it to be right." Imagining that must be a moment where Ainsley would start to comment, Marie is surprised to hear Mu add in a rush "You see, that has never happened before. And she certainly was not the first visitor to my home. Athana assures me that this would be a good thing, but she would not tell me why."

A small laugh from Ainsley indicates to Marie that there is at least nothing to worry about. For Mu, at least. _So...it __**was **__an egg. What in the world..uh..produces...an egg of that size? _she asks herself and gets even more confused when Mu's mother responds. "Oh, my dear Mu, this would call for celebration, if the circumstances were a little different. Nonetheless..."

Despite her curiosity, Marie picks up her cup and drags herself away from their conversation, quickly returning to the second floor and sitting down on one of the couches. _It just isn't right to listen in on..whatever it is. And it's not like it has anything to do with her company or whatever issues we are dealing with. Does it? What does it have to do with, anyway? It all seems to circle back to the stone, the..the egg. _Naming it as it appeared to her not only in the first moments, but every time her mind went back to it, makes her stomach churn and put her coffee away.

_Maybe I should've listened more...No, Castaneda, you were raised better than that. But, goodness, would I like to know what that's about...annoying conscience. But she'll tell me, if need be, won't she? If that thing turns out to be the connection missing in this case, then I'll find it out eventually anyway. I would bet a month's salary that she knows that. _Her mind running circles around the possible reasons, **any **reason but the one that the direction of the conversation between the two women implies and doesn't include some kind of animal, for two people to talk about an egg._ Even if it is the size of a big dog._

She is just about to get up, intent on thinking through the day's events more thoroughly, while pacing around the terrace, when the green-pink flash reappeared in her field of vision. This time at least not in the position to make her stumble. "Hey there!"Marie exclaims nonetheless, since she is still a little startled, not having heard a door onto the terrace open or close. Now she stands under – or above – the scrutiny of the girl, a little taller than half her own height, being fixated by another pair of strikingly red eyes.

"Did you hear?" asks the girl intensely and adds for emphasis "Did you listen?"

"Ronit, right?" Marie asks with a small, uncertain smile and continues at the nod of the girl "First off, how did you know there was anything I could listen to? And how did you know that would happen when I was where I was?"

"Because I made you go." the girl says matter-of-factly, looking like she was about to add 'How can you not know that', but restraining herself from doing so, with quite the effort, it seems.

"You...how would you do that? Besides, it's not nice to...make..people listening in on other people's private conversations." _What am I saying here.._ "And no, I did not listen in. That's very improper behavior, you know." Marie says, only barely stopping herself from wagging her finger at the girl. _Have I just been defending myself for some ridiculous...I don't even know what to call this...to a kid?_

"You didn't? Aw, I knew I wasn't good enough at this, yet. But weren't you curious? You really shoulda..." She puts a hand to her forehead and shakes it in defeat. "Ugh, adults..Now I've got to tell mom and sis to fill you in." and rushes off again with an audibly mumbled "Always gotta make things complicated for me, don't you, Mu?" leaving behind a thoroughly baffled Marie.

"What just happened?"

–

Almost an hour later, this time having made herself comfortable in one of the arm chairs shortly after the little girl ran off, Marie stares off into the scenery without really seeing it. Her mind is back to running around the facts and assumptions acquired until now, disturbed by so many instances of weird behavior that she can't find more than she had before she even left City.

Moving at least those puzzle pieces in her head, though none of them seem to fit together. Except... _But that's just ridiculous. And that, too..I'm really wearing that word out with this 'case'.. Anyway, all things considered, especially with what Mu just said. If, thoroughly stressing that __**if**__, it holds true, the logical conclusion would be.._

Her train of thoughts gets interrupted, when she hears the terrace door behind her opening and closing. Turning around, she watches Mu approach slowly, also enjoying the sun, almost shining in the late evening's orange-blue tinge of the light. _No shapes this time. _All the underlying tenseness the woman seemed to have even before she went to talk with her mother apparently vanished and now Mu seems to be back to her poised self. She has her sister in tow, who wears a curiously smug expression.

With a somewhat relieved expression, Mu addresses Marie "I am sorry to make you wait this long. I hope it was not too much of a bore." A smile growing on Mu's face, she continues "Would you care to join us for dinner?"

–

While the conversation around the rustic dinner table, where a meal the size of a feast is served between the four of them, doesn't deviate from superficial introductory topics, Marie can feel the underlying apprehension of Mu, whose looks at her and general behavior suggests to her, there will be a disclosure of some kind sooner, rather than later. _About time, I'd say. Still, this is not something anyone should know about. That's almost like letting her off with collusion. Any lawyer could twist it that way. _

Mu consolidates that assumption by saying "I believe it is time I answer some of the questions you already had and those added during our association and, of course, your stay." She gives a meaningful look to her sister, who doesn't have the decency to look abashed, but rather more smug.

"I will, however, have a quick shower first. Doing that after dinner is one of a few habits I would like not to break." Mu says. "Maybe you would like to make yourself more comfortable as well? I would like for you to feel more at home around our house, but I am well aware this is not something people normally do at a place of a person you hardly know. Which is something else I would like to correct, but...Well, now I am rambling, so I will leave you to it and be right back." a flush to her cheeks adds a bit to the embarrassment Mu so plainly shows in her expressions.

With a smirk, Marie waves off Mu. "I'll be fine." When she turns around, she is greeted by a blank stare from Ainsley. The woman had changed out of her work wear before their meal. Though casual and nothing out of the ordinary for someone to wear in their home, the array of fluffy black, combined with the white hair and those eyes staring at her, Marie is not surprised to find herself feeling rather intimidated by the sight.

Marie tries her damnedest not to react as if anything unusual happened – other than the initial flinch at finding those bloody eyes pierce right into her – and regards Mu's mother sincerely. "I'm actually settling in much better than I thought. I have been expecting to be rather unwelcome, seeing how I am investigating your daughter."

Ainsley asks Marie to follow her to the living room, where they can talk in a more comfortable setting after Marie declines the offer to take her time to change her clothes. On their short way, the woman explains her acceptance of Marie's presence. "You do what you must, I understand and appreciate that you take your time to look at every angle, instead of putting Mu under house arrest or even locking her away."

The woman indicates for Marie to sit down, but remains standing herself, leaning on the backrest of another armchair. "I also appreciate it greatly that you let her come here and that you manage to put up with being left in the dark so far. But I have no doubts that Mu did nothing wrong, so I have no problems with you doing your work." She shoots an understanding smile toward Marie "Albeit, I do believe this is not proper procedure, now is it." stating that, rather than asking, which Marie doesn't miss. _Caught out, hm? Well, I already thought Mu must be aware of it, so...yeah._

In the following half hour, their seats aligned opposite around the unlit fireplace, Marie elaborates to Ainsley what she can about her case and how it relates to Mu and the both of them now being here. Ainsley listens intently, but doesn't display much of any reaction to the revelations. She even admits to knowing full well what happened back then, saying that such a thing would never be kept a secret in the family.

Just as Mu enters the room, now dressed in rather unflattering, but very obviously comfortable slacks and simple shirt, as if she heard her daughter before she entered, Ainsley fixates Marie with a serious look and says "I will be going, then. You two have things to discuss and I will leave it up to Mu, how much of our world she entrusts to you. With our discussion before, on which you were partly forced to listen to, I sincerely hope things will move along smoothly. I do want you to know, which Mu will also be pleased to hear, I quite like you. Whatever happens, you will always be welcome in our home."

_Great, she's not really helpful either. _Our world_...What is that supposed to mean._ Marie thanks Ainsley – for what, she neither knows nor gets told – who smirks at her, when she notices the incredulous look on Marie's face. _Lets hope here come the answers._ she thinks, shaking her head with a grin, when Mu hands her another cup of coffee, while the woman herself sits down in the chair her mother rested on, with a glass of milk.

"Well then," Mu starts "where should I begin?" though she seems ready to talk, Marie can see the reluctance in the other woman's fidgeting. A near tangible tension spreads between the two, though Marie has other worries, for the moment.

_Why don't you start by not distracting me so much, sitting in such a...revealing position? _Looking at Mu, the incredibly long legs folded up comfortably in her seat, her damp hair increasing in volume and amassing around her head, the dryer it gets, which makes her look somewhat wild. Her clothes stretch tightly over areas Marie really isn't quite so sure she doesn't want to notice – shouldn't notice if nothing else. Dragging her line of sight back to Mu's face, passing the equally snug shirt she's wearing, the other woman seems to be oblivious to the fact.

She takes a deep breath to calm herself again. "How about starting at the beginning. That's always a good place. Just..." she smirks "Just don't try to tell me you're a psychic alien with an knack for business that just so happens to have a dislike for us lowly humans harming ourselves."

All the tension vanishes, when they Mu starts laughing loudly and Marie joins in, chuckling."Yes, I suppose you are right with that. Starting at the beginning, I mean." She exhales loudly, all the remaining uneasiness ebbing away. Still smiling, she twists in her seat, turning to the fireplace and arranging it to light it up. "But it will be just as outlandish as you suggested just now. This is why I asked of you to keep an open mind. However...Well, it might be a lot to accept, grasp even."

Another fortifying deep breath and she seats herself upright, regarding Marie seriously. "You see, by the time the first human ship landed on this planet, on our planet, at that point, which is very close to four hundred and thirty seven years ago now, I had just turned twenty one of your years."


	25. Chapter 22

At first, Marie simply stares at Mu, awaiting a 'Just kidding' of sorts. With nothing forthcoming, she lets out a laugh and asks the question herself "You're kidding, right?" But the other woman remains quiet. _What the... _"What do you mean, our years? What...four hundred years? Don't be ridiculous."

Poking the fire, so it grows stronger, throwing in another log, Mu turns to Marie "It is quite a thing to say, is it not?" with a smile and clarifies "I am saying I will, quite soon, have ended the four hundred and fifty seventh year of my life."

"But that's just..." Marie starts and falls silent. Running through her head are the inconsistencies she found along the way, since first finding out about Mu. The unprecedented speed of some of this family's members' apparent education, without anyone caring about it, the seemingly instant appearance of Mu taking over a shady company with inexplicable ease, "The genetic defect...but how does it..." she murmurs, loud enough for Mu to hear. The other woman remains silent, letting Marie work through her thoughts.

"Alright, fine." Marie tries after a few minutes, shaking her head at herself _You're __**really**__ going to go along with this, Castaneda?_ With a sigh, she says "Let's put aside the age thing and start with you saying 'your planet'. So you **are **trying to tell me you are..what, an alien?" She remembers Mu's response to that clearly now. "Are you saying you tried to insinuate just that, when I joked about it?"

That makes Mu smile, as she answers "In a sense, yes. Your scientists would classify my mother, my sister, my family...me...we are indigenous lifeforms. Now, after so much time of cohabitation, almost three generations of your people growing up, living their lives and resting wherever their beliefs would have them spend their afterlives, now I would say we are not as much alien anymore."

"Right, of course." she says, sarcastically. "So, what are you, then? And why didn't the first settlers find anything? The colonization of a planet begins with basic to thorough scans and tests and yet...And why did...your people? Why didn't they contact us? Damn it, you're even saying you were there, so why didn't you?" Mu doesn't stop the flood of questions streaming from Marie, while she tries to get her head around even just the possibility of this kind of story being the truth. The feeling of belief Marie harbored since their initial conversation is stretched to its limits, to her amazement, doesn't go away completely.

"I will answer your last question first, so that our unnoticed presence among you is explained." However confused Marie feels right now, she can clearly see Mu doesn't know where she should start to explain either. _Question is if she has to make up the story on the fly or if it's just as...incredibly ridiculous as she says. I mean, it's just...oh geez..._ So she assumes the woman just picked out the first question that stuck to her mind.

"While I neither can, nor want to deny that I was very curious, I would not have wanted to anger mother, who was very adamant I stay away from your landing party. That said, the decision not to initiate contact was made by our elders. And they have led us well for millennia. So it was not until a while later that we decided to mingle with your kind, when you established a steady settlement. It allowed for our intrusion from the outside to be easily masked."

"Many centuries before, we had started to intercepted radio waves from your planet, at least we gathered, over time, that it was from one single planet. It proved an interesting source of information and even led to creation of new technologies upon which we could build. It allowed us to create ways to find and monitor your vessel approaching our planet. Early enough, so that we could create technological ways to prevent yours from finding even mere traces of us."

"You did not disappoint our predictions. We learn fast and we are born with an eidetic memory, so, when you set down and we gained access, even learning and remembering everything necessary to interact posed no problem. In the beginning that was done just in case, though later on it was even integrated into our schooling as a precautionary measure. Some, like me, took a deeper interest, though that is not important at the moment, I suppose."

"As for what we are..." Mu closes her eyes and sighs yet again. "Well. That would be the other reason I brought up the question about fantasy stories at the café this morning. By the definition of some of the more imaginative minds of your species, we would be what you call dragons."

"Dragons." Marie repeats, blatantly disbelieving. "Really, how would you have me believe..that..you're..." Her voice trails off, as she stares wide-eyed at Mu. Specifically at her hair, which suddenly started to change colors, dyeing itself in the multitude of colors Marie noticed before, but couldn't think of as anything more than an illusion.

Now, though, Mu sits in the same seat in front of her as she did a moment ago, wearing the same homely slacks and shirt as she did just before, but instead of long, black waves of still drying hair splayed over the backrest and Mu herself, it is now the turquoise-blue-purple waterfall she thought she only imagined seeing in different lights. "My word, that's beautiful..." slips away from her in a whisper.

"Why thank you." Mu flushes slightly, causing Marie to react the same. "You may imagine I do not hear it commented on very often. It is, however, much easier to show, than tell, is it not?" she adds, self-consciously twisting a few strands between her fingers. "This also goes quite well with answering your likely upcoming question about magic. This is what I mean by it. Admittedly, limited to my person, it might still be rationalized away. I have a feeling that will not be the case with you, though."

Marie can't keep herself from staring, neither can she help herself blurting out "Hair, be it as colorful as it is, doesn't make you look much like a lizard, though." Which elicits a bright laugh from Mu, causing the both of them to relax a bit, when Marie joins in.

"I will have you know lizard is not a very nice thing to say." Mu says very seriously as she regains her equilibrium. Marie looks at her confused. "I do not shed." Mu says, smirks and thoroughly enjoys the confusion on Marie's face turning into a very noticeable flush, when the image that comment gives her obviously appears in the other woman's mind.

"Alright, you've successfully defused the conversation." Letting out a last chuckle, Marie turns serious again. "But it could still be a trick of some kind. I mean, it's just hair color and you're a scientist, maybe you did...something to yourself. Who am I to know?"

Pondering that for a moment, Mu holds up her index finger "Watch." This time, instead of a simple shift in colors, the now cloudy mass of hair around the gently smiling face of Mu starts to move on its own. Shrinking in on itself, the long tresses pull themselves up from behind the backrest of her chair, all of it slowly collects on the top of her head.

Marie watches with wide-eyed amazement when it clumps up just above her forehead, slowly taking on a solid form with a seemingly smooth surface, growing increasingly detached from and bent over high, slightly toward the back of her head. When the transformation seems to be complete. Mesmerized, Marie reaches out with her hand, realizing only a hands breadth away what she's about to do. Her hand stills and she looks into the eyes of the other woman, who merely nods in consent.

Marie closes the distance and her fingers touch the unexpectedly rough surface of the head-plate that Mu formed. "This is..." She strokes over the two long, thick and wide, horn like extensions while Mu sits still, letting her take it all in. _My goodness..._"It's beautiful." Tracing her finger along the fracture like lines that formed over the edges of the strong, strange surface, she grazes a much softer tissue with the ball of her hand.

She lifts her hand away slightly and finds, just above where her normal ears usually have their place, a long, shell like form protrudes away from her head, slightly to the back and down to where her human ear had its lobe moments before. Framed by the remaining smooth, now shoulder length hair, the colors of these vastly different ears match in the same turquoise-blue combination, but they are much more flexible than the head-plate, Marie feels its texture.

Utterly amazed, she looks back toward Mu's eyes, only to find them closed – decidedly not uncomfortable. Suddenly, her mind turns her perceiving the so far unconsciously continuing motions that resemble a massage into intimate caressing and, with a sharp intake of breath, Marie pulls her hand away as if she just burnt herself. "Oh geez, I'm sorry!" staring at the other woman in consternation.

"It is alright." Slowly the golden eyes open again, at first they try to avoid finding their opposite's brown ones, but when they settle in meeting, Marie can see that even they aren't in their usual state anymore. In the place of the round irises are now narrow, black slits, like those of a cat. A smile spreads Mu's lips, dispersing the anticipation of bad reactions that clearly showed in her features. "I see you are at least not repulsed."

"I..." Taking in the full change of the woman, now that she sits back a bit, Marie can't find any words to say. A moment of silence settles between the two, as Mu lets Marie work her way out of her daze. Thoughts race through Marie's head, most of them going nowhere but in circles. Some of them, however, connect with what Mu told her earlier and the questions of time lines they created. _That would make sense, then. She really did know everything she needed to know before she started to attend university. And the time it took her to complete it, those seven semesters, fits with what I assume it takes to simply take all exams necessary. _

"Well now..." She starts, clearing her throat. "This is quite a lot to even just try to wrap my head around, you know." falling silent for a moment, still staring at the transformed woman and clearly considering how to proceed. "How did you keep your presence hidden all these years? What with injuries and all that. Such things aren't avoidable for everyone all the time. Which also brings up the question of how many of you there are..."

Those, however, where rather secondary question on Marie's mind, considering her lingering want to believe the other woman. She already feels a little disappointed, but, for now, the woman is willing to explain. Still, the unreasonable sense of betrayal lets her ask the question that concerns her the most that little bit more forceful than planned. _Not that there is much of any plan left, at the moment._ "Also, if you're so adamant about not lying, how come you're basically deceiving the entire world?"

The smile appearing on Mu's face clearly shows her amusement over Marie's questions. With a chuckle, she answers "The former are quite simple. You might even have an idea already. It is our people who not only upkeep these integral parts of the community on this planet, but we were the ones who had received the task of setting it all up. It was, as you know, not decided on the first days of settling to keep these kind of records in one central office, but there was actually a call for bids for such a project."

"And, well, it was not hard to buy in, considering we had quite a bit of time to accumulate a bit of your currency." She has the decency to look a little embarrassed, even though she had nothing to do with it. "We already had the facilities, albeit on a smaller scale, as we had foreseen this eventual development. I do not know much of the details, as that never caught my interest." she dismisses explaining the technological side of the process with a wave of her hand.

"I was much more interested in being around your people, interacting, challenging them and myself. So I had learned about science, about management and many other areas that helped me meet new people, find new interests. Which brings me to your second point. People are rather focused on the task at hand, looking no further than necessary into whom they deal with, as long as the superficial appearances hold up. Starting over in different areas of work from time to time made me, and others like me, nearly invisible to any closer scrutiny. Excelling at your field of choice also keeps people from actually wanting to know more. On the off chance someone does decide to delve deeper, we can be persuasive."

Only the tone of Mu's voice lets Marie believe there is some other meaning to it than threats, like she assumed immediately the last time the topic came up with the other woman's relative. "Your cousin is sure you don't mean threats with that" she so says, thinking at the same time _And I would be thoroughly disappointed, now that I got to know you a little better. In some ways, at the very least. Whatever that means, with all this. _With a frustrated sigh, she continues "so what would you happen to do, to persuade? I have an example which you could elaborate on. Your secretary mentioned that there were business-deal closures that nobody expected to happen anymore."

"Ah, did she?" A smirk appearing, turning into a warm smile "I was right to hire her, she is very observant and strong willed, indeed. Most attending people do not remember that something out of the ordinary happened, but she...Well, to make this a little easier, and especially more believable, let me ask you something in return. Did you enjoy your time at the City park?"

"How do you..." Marie starts, trailing off when she remembers the strange flashback of just before she left Mu's home. "You did something. Before I left your apartment." she states. "I was really very surprised to find myself at the park, as I would have never gotten the idea to do that myself. What did you do to make me go there?"

Mu expected an accusing reaction, but it appears her small gift didn't offend the Captain. "I am delighted to see you enjoyed it." she says, smiling brightly. "In a simple, but much too broad word, it would be hypnosis." she holds up her hand, before Marie can inquire, the surprised and wary look on her face indicating that to happen. "Please, let me explain.

It is not a thing that I can use to simply tell, or even force you to act in a certain way. It is merely a subconscious encouragement of an idea that is already present in your mind. Be it in the fore or unnoticed in a corner until something triggers it. If you were never inclined to do it, if your mind never had had the idea to go there, or simply had a stronger inclination to oppose it, you merely would not have gone."

With a relieved sigh, Mu receives an acknowledging nod from the other woman, who says "When you say it like that, I just have to ask. I have a feeling I'm accepting all of this a little too easy. I mean, put yourself in my shoes. This whole thing is just...out there, you know? Yet here I am, still listening to you. Despite the show and tell, nice as it may be, it's all still quite unfathomable, so...Might it be you have something to do with me not running off and getting you locked up?"


	26. Chapter 23

Marie had been contemplating that question, even before she knew about the manipulative trick, but, then, she couldn't come to a conclusion as to how that would work. She forced herself to ignore the other possibility, seeing how that would have made everything all together too complicated. _Not to mention wrong, her being the suspect and all. _She thinks, looking at Mu, who is just starting to transform herself back to her wholly human form.

But now, with every other likely reason – like much more simple, overzealous fascination over the case's nature – eliminated, slowly, though at first reluctantly, she accepts the obvious signs of attraction toward the now blue haired mystery in front of her. _I can't believe it's only been three days. Granted, nothing extraordinary happened, until this, but..._ Trying to find out about her and finding only more questions, making her a puzzle that needed solving, hadn't helped Marie's resolve of denial.

The main reason Marie started with the police in the first place is her interest in the puzzle that is human behavior, especially in the events where people chose to do wrong on others. Despite the story presented to her and her initial, not so unflinching denial, here she is, slowly, but surely feeling the increasing attraction the woman in front of her. _And she doesn't help, with the teasing and looking great, even with those..well, not really unnatural colors, is it...and...all that. Never mind, it's impossible anyway. I'm on official business here. The fact that I have to remind myself is..._

Illuminated by the flickering fire's light, intensified by the sun setting, despite that it's only late the afternoon, behind the tall peaks and an intimidating sight onto the looming giants, the snowy peaks, through the large windows in her background; the sight, combined with the thoughts that flitted through her head, leaves a flushed Marie staring at the other woman. Who has yet to respond.

"You are staring." Mu adequately points out flatly, wearing an amused smile, which makes her large ear-shells twitch. _There she goes again..._ Seeing Marie's already present flush turn into full fledged embarrassment makes Mu's smile grow into a grin and she says "First off, let us set aside the likelihood that your subconscious will override my attempt to have you accept this more easily, simply because the concept is so very unlikely and hard for the human mind to grasp." She explains, which sounds believable enough to the silently nodding Marie.

Mu continues "Further would I rather not see a falsified, predetermined reaction from you. Especially since you have the analytical mind a policewoman needs for her work. In the end, without manipulation, the belief will be settled stronger in your mind – so long as you do believe in the first place, obviously – and that is how it needs to be."

"It has been quite a long time since the last outsider was let in on our lives. My opinion, as to why you are inclined to believe me – as you say, rather easily – I am sure that since you are making your own mental leaps toward the most probable implications I tried to send across, helped build a foundation for credibility. "

"Now, despite all, my word may still not suffice to convince you, which I respect." Mu says, resettling her seating position. "The fact that you **do** remember that I did incite your recreational visit to the park, which, in itself, is already quite a feat. But now, combined with that I explained how it works, your mind should be able to verify if I meddled with you in this instance or not, recalling such an event."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Marie sighs deeply, slumping deep into her seat. "I was going back over our meetings just now, yes. Factoring in all these...changes. Well, for now, I couldn't find any flashbacks again. Maybe it's not that easy, though." _Problem is, that only leaves me __**wanting **__to believe her. At least the suspicions aren't pointing toward her anymore. Doesn't make it much better, but still..._ With a huff, renewing her resolution to see this through objectively, she regards the other woman again. "So how many of you are there? Have you already infiltrated everything you can or something?"

"Oh, we have never been more than a few thousand. On the planet, at the moment, maybe a few hundred remain here. The elders, the offspring and the settled, in City or on the outskirts. The rest either went to your colonies, or, in most cases, went with your outer space endeavors." Mu answers, a fleeting sadness rushing over her expression. It has Marie wondering immediately, but she remains quiet, already expecting the other woman to come forward with a reason for it.

And so she does "You may imagine, with lives as long as ours, many of the younger ones and quite a few over half the span of their expectancy did not wait long to take the opportunity to explore. While we certainly did not lack the time to create technology to venture away from our home planet, the elders were adamantly against developing such things. Until they could no longer refuse the others to participate and make use of your technological endeavors."

With a sigh, she addresses the reason for her concerned expression "In a sense, the elders were right. You brought us the opportunity to live a new life. But you also brought the war. Do not misunderstand, I do not blame you, nor the majority of your people. The war was already there and it is the recklessness of many of our kind that I blame. Mostly the young again, quite a few friends of mine, ventured to the war zones. Noble goals they might have had, thinking they could change something for the better. But many never came back."

A haunted look in her eyes, intensified by the dying fire's eery flicker, Mu takes a deep breath. She turns to the furnace, picks up two fresh logs from the pile at its side and rekindles the flames. Turning back to Marie, her small smile back in its place, she continues "I suppose the elders knew something alike would happen and the young did not listen. Would that be too much of a cliché? Alternatively, they may just have been generally afraid of change. It is no matter anymore, none of us has ended his or her life too early in decades now."

_Dragging unrelated parties into our own problems...Well,it's not like we knew. _Marie thinks, another sigh escaping her. With a shake of her head, she asks"So you didn't leave the planet? I mean, you said it yourself, you try to work with as many different people as you could, along the years, so it would make sense for you to have tried out other colonies and outer space."

"That is correct, I rarely left our home planet and if so, only for business deals. For one thing it is because I have enough opportunities here, for now. There is always something new coming up, leaving me with many choices for not having to leave. Though, I am certainly not complaining. After all, it allows me to meet people like you." To the delight of Mu, yet again, she managed to get Marie to flush slightly, but visibly.

Giving the other woman no time to respond, Mu continues "That does not mean I will never venture away from here. For a long while or not, it will depend on what I find to do. In the future, then, perhaps I will expand my horizons in this regard. I do, after all, have centuries ahead of me."

It is with those words, that hit like a cold shower, Marie realizes the implications for her newly acknowledged, budding attraction. With a twinge in her chest, of the kind she doesn't welcome at all, she thinks _Well, isn't this just wonderful. You're really slow on the uptake this time, hm..?_

Unaware of the effects of her words, Mu continues "However...there is another reason I am staying in and around City as much as I can, which is also the reason I was encouraged by Athana to come here. It also answers a question you have likely been asking yourself when I told you that our names have a meaning pertaining to a personal trait of each of us. My name relates to the..object that I showed you in my apartments." she says, a serious expression returned to her face, tinged with a very sentimental look in her eyes.

"You mean the stone? I was getting increasingly interested in that, considering it seems to pop up as a topic every now and then." Marie ponders if she should comment on her recent thought, effectively admitting she overheard the conversation. With a sigh, she goes for it "Earlier, when you were talking to your mother, I...overheard parts of it."

With a reassuring smile, Mu says "I am aware. Mostly because Ronit was kind enough to tell us." a short pause, looking like there was more forthcoming, but apparently she decides to keep it to herself and continues "But also because I heard you. I did not say anything, or stopped talking, for that matter, because, since you were there already, it makes this conversation a bit easier, albeit a little more awkward." She sighs and asks "How much did you overhear? I did not hear you leave the vicinity."

Despite the nature of revelations already made and the general direction of their conversation taking, Marie feels flustered, at a loss for words to explain her thoughts. As she usually does when that happens, she gets right out with "Well, from what I could gather, in total up to now, it appears that – and I can't believe I'm saying this – it seems to be...your...your egg." or at least as good as possible.

Mu doesn't immediately answer, instead looks at Marie, searching for signs of how much the captain is now willing to believe, considering her earlier show and tell. "And with that, you are assuming correctly." she finally answers, observing Marie for a moment, rather than elaborating on the hows that must swarm Marie's mind now.

Still, Mu can't help herself from teasing. "Please do not get the wrong ideas about the ways in which it may have..appeared." With a serious expression and in a measured, slightly embarrassed tone, but with a distinct glint in her eyes.

That Marie completely misses, so she doesn't realize she's being teased and the comment manages to cause Marie's face to flush greatly, again, imagining things better left unimagined. "You just had to go and put those pictures in my head..." she mumbles, decidedly not looking at Mu directly.

"I apologize, but I could not resist." Mu laughs. "It is, however, not a process like it was in the nature of your planet. Not even one that resembles normal human births. It does come back to magic, for lack of a better word. However, and here is where my predicament originates from, we, our species, usually do not have, or rather create our egg before..well, a joining with a life partner is formed." Wearing a wistful expression, Mu seems to loose her focus in thought.

Marie guesses there will be more forthcoming, but for a little while, Mu remains silent, still quite obviously struggling to come up with a way to continue. Marie tries to encourage her, saying "But now it's here, so you must've had a partner. I assume something unpleasant happened, for them not being here anymore?"

Regaining her focus, fixing her eyes on Marie's, she says "No...no, it..I was different. I have not had a partner yet, with whom I would have considered taking my life that far." She takes a deep breath, eyes closed, holds her breath for a moment and lets it go, slowly. Opening her eyes again, the golden gaze immediately makes its way back to Marie's eyes. "When I was born..hatched, as I can now tell you, it appeared along with me. It was, from the start and still is, vibrating with the energy of a life, on the verge to form a complete being."

The enthused, bright expression that made its way on her face as she tries to convey at least some of how it feels to her turns wistful, with a, to Marie, nearly heartbreaking helpless half shrug. "But it cannot. I feel it, however, every time I am close to it. Most of the time it provides a rather comfortable, pleasant feel, knowing it is there; what it can become. The same feeling all others of my species have, when they decide to create a new life."

"But for me, there is something missing. For the others, they tell me there is a sense of growth, which both parents receive. For me, there is a sense of 'might be', or 'almost'. Feeling it for years, decades...centuries...it wears on me. It is still there and not fading, so I suppose it is, if at times giving me a sentimental mood, no cause for grief, only a grating reminder of a possibility.

Regardless, you may have already come to the conclusion to what this is leading up to." she says, looking at Marie expectantly.

"Your name." Marie nods. "Non being, was it...Yeah, I think I get it. Insomuch as possible to just 'get' this whole thing, of course." Marie answers with a smile.


	27. Chapter 24

"It gets dark out here quick." Marie starts after their short recess, during which Mu left to fetch them another drink, as well as giving Marie time to process all the revelations. When she returns, Mu finds her standing at the windows, looking out over the quickly darkening scenery. She puts the cups on the table they sat at before and walks over to join the policewoman, standing just a bit away from her.

"We are within a quite deep valley with some of the highest peaks of the range around, yes." Quietly she adds. "It is quite a sight."

"Yeah, quite a sight." Marie mumbles, when she turns around to the other woman. She folds her arms in front of her chest and cocks her head. "Come to think of it, your cousin mentioned you left your home early, heading for city. The point that you haven't been home in a long while keeps coming up every now and then as well." She regards Mu with as much sympathy as she feels. _Usually it takes something really bad happening for someone to do that. Somehow I can't even begin to imagine what could be a tragedy to a...dragon._ She poses her question equally emotionally laden "So why'd you try to leave all this behind?"

"Well." The woman leads them back to their seats and takes her previous place near the fire that is now only producing a dim red glow. Instead of rekindling it, Mu had switched on the lights when she went to fetch the drinks, the short break taken as much for Marie as herself as well.

She picks up the cup from the table and twists it slightly in her hand. "If anything, I would – now, after all these years – call my reasoning juvenile. I believe mother thought of it more than anything as my rebellious phase." Laughing out loud, she looks at Marie, who wears a quizzical expression. "Quite and interesting similarity between our species as well, don't you think?"

Seeing the smile forming on Marie's face, she takes that as her answer and proceeds "You need to take into account that, while I did say I was twenty one of your years old when you settled on this planet and I will be saying that I was thirty five of your years when I left here, my home, I was still a child in our terms. Thus the rebellious teenager would fit this perfectly as a description." _Well, if she's saying she's...four hundred and fifty something...it makes sense. _Mu doesn't notice the flinch Marie couldn't suppress. _Did I really just think that? _

"I left, because back then I felt the need to show off my uniqueness" she sighs "and, of course, it turned out badly." Taking the last swallow from her cup, she puts it away and leans back into her chair. "I had found out early that having your egg at any point before a joining is something that has rarely happened. It was unique, as far as I knew then. So, with youthful overzeal instead of appreciative carefulness, one day, I sneaked it out of the house and took it with me. I had been asked many times by friends to bring it, most were curious, some did not even believe me. I could not stand for it, as you may imagine, so I was planning to show it to them."

"My family has lived here for generations, my friends' families lived, at the time, on the other side of the range. To get there, then, I packed the heavy thing into a sturdy backpack and went on to travel over the mountain range by foot, as we had no flyers then. But, despite having lived here all my life, I had never before done that trek by myself and never without any planning ahead, for weather such."

She takes a deep breath and stares past Marie, obviously recalling the event, with a sad expression. "Somewhere half way on what would have been a two day trip, I was caught in a snow storm, a rather big one, at that." Focusing her gaze back on Marie, she shrugs in a helpless gesture. "Thanks to my nature, normally that would not be a problem. I would use the direct and intense warmth of the sun, even this far up, to keep my body functioning. And in extreme cold, like the storm, I would have...let us call it hibernated – basically waiting out the storm." sheepishly, she adds "I apologize for the small lesson in our physiology."

"It's fine." _What I'm here about is answers. And you're doing good, so far. Despite...the ridiculousness of it. _Marie smiles back, her own cup of coffee still in her hands, with the beverage now cold, as she was listening intently and forgot about it. She eyes it warily, thinking about still going for it. "I guess it'll help me get my head around what you're about to say, so I thank you for it." She grimaces as she takes a swallow of her beverage, putting it away after all.

"Good." With a nod, she repositions herself, sitting with one leg folded under her the other. Again, she has no idea of the effect that has on Marie, having her rather tight slacks warp around her legs and behind even tighter. "Well, now I would know to handle such a situation, but back then it was a first for me. So I entered the storm, waited it out on a reduced metabolism so I did not freeze to death. But when the storm passed half a day later and I...reactivated myself, I did not take into account the toll that action took."

"Weakened, but not as much so I would notice immediately, I tried to continue. Not much later, though, I felt much more strain than I anticipated. And then it all went wrong." Mu takes another fortifying, deep breath, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. She is looking anywhere but directly into Marie's eyes. _The...egg's still here, so it can't have been __**too **__bad. Right?_

"I quickly lost what little reserves of strength I had, collapsed and lost my cargo. The bag I kept it in ripped open due to the weight of the egg and...well, since it is a mountain, it has a slope and in the place where I was at the time, this slope was quite steep." Shifting her position again makes it seem like her entire body is fidgeting now. Mu finally looks up, searching for Marie's eyes, finding only compassion. It makes her smile at her own behavior over something so long in the past.

Mu's expression again turns serious, but much more calm now, when she continues "I feared for the worst, the unimaginable, as I laid in the snow, watching it tumble down over the hard, white snow." She relaxes into her seat even more, finally a bit more at ease again. "As the saying goes, you never really appreciate something until it's gone. And from then on, I knew its meaning, before I had even heard the saying itself."

"I don't know if I should give my condolences in this case. I don't even know what to say." Marie tries, unsuccessfully, to search for the right words.

But Mu sighs and smiles brightly at her once more. "It is alright. I do not think there is a way for anyone, not even of my species, to relate. Myself included." At Marie's questioningly raising eyebrow, she elaborates "The egg was always there, as was the strange feeling it radiates. As a mere child, I had no way to know what it all meant. When I grew up, before the incident, I have been told numerous times, in equally many variations, what it **could **and **should** mean to me. But I could not fathom it, as I lacked any point of reference."

She cocks her head slightly, her expression shows she apparently realized something she hadn't before. "If I think of it now – and it has been a very long time since I took the effort to go over it all in greater detail – I would say my parents and relatives did not really know what they were trying to teach me either. It would make sense." Shaking the thought away, she looks back at Marie and shrugs. "It is of no consequence now."

"Regardless, along the years, it just became a constant in my life, that simply had no explanation until it was time for the egg to progress to life. That, at least, my kind knew would happen. Though no one bothered to tell me, until...until..." Slightly flushed, she suddenly just stops.

"Are you okay?" Marie edges a little closer.

"Yes! Yes, I am fine." Coughing, she tries to act as if nothing happened, but even the light red on her cheeks is still present. Still, she doesn't comment on it any further.

"Right..." Marie mumbles very doubtful. "Alright, so since...your..your egg is still here and apparently fine, I suppose you were fine somehow? Since you didn't need to tell them, but something still made you leave, I assume you got into an argument with your parents when you needed to be rescued? What made you leave home, then?"

"You are correct, I had been an argument, after I had to have been rescued." She sends a short, melancholic look toward where her mother left before. "I contacted them as soon as I had the strength to do so. It might even be possible that I had been unconscious, as I suffered frostbites. Regardless, I called home because I knew I could not continue."

Sadness paints her features yet again, her hands folded tightly in her lap. "I remember being panicked, as I did not know what happened to...you know. I remember frantically searching everywhere down the slope." Her voice gets quieter, almost hushed "I remember spotting it, next to a few rocks spiking out of the snow. I remember myself wrapped around it after I reached it and broke down in tears as it was undamaged. Then everything went black."

"A few days, so I have been told, after that are missing in my memory, but there would have been nothing worth remembering during them, so it is not that I mind. I had to be medically treated for quite a while after they found me, a few weeks. As you can see, I healed." She gestures over herself and her hands fall palm up into her lap. She stares at them as they perform small movements like a gripping motion. "But...in those moments, when I held on to the precious life, that which I initially minded no more than a thing...laying in the snow, realizing how close I came to lose it and its...aura – for lack of a better word – surrounding me...It changed my approach to how I would be leading my life."

"So you left for City and became a major player in business?" Marie asks into an ensuing silence, trying to get Mu to go on.

"Yes, that is correct." She answers flatly, but Mu doesn't show any arrogance. Instead, she "I left City to learn many things I could then apply to help."

"And make a profit on the side." Marie chimes in, a sort of roundabout way of asking about what Mu is doing with all the money she must make from the massive amounts of ventures she has going, according to the A.I. search.

Slightly surprised, Mu catches the underlying question "Well, of course there would be a lot of money involved when one restructures the majority of City, as well as many other projects. But" she leans forward, holding up her index finger "that is, rather sadly, almost the only way how real help can be given."

She finds immediate understanding on Marie's face, who then says "You funded projects to that end. That's what you do with your money." She subdues the feeling of relief, as her question of where all the money must have gone is now answered, but that answer is not proven true yet. _Something else I'll have to check. _"Alright, so I guess you donated and invested a lot along the years, right? Just for my understanding, how did it not receive massive amounts of publicity, which you probably want to avoid?"

"Exactly. I have and still do finance research, medical development, build facilities to accommodate the former and things like that." She smiles at Marie "The part of staying out of the limelight is rather easy, considering I have a lot of subsidiaries I can use to route all those investments over. Again, if the people have funds rolling in, they are unlikely to ask questions, even less so, if it comes in small increments from many sources." sighing, she adds "Money really does make your world go round. I like that saying. The relevance, however, not so much."


	28. Chapter 25

Late in the days, closing in fast on the mid of night, there is very little activity in the residential Area of the metropolis that is City. All of the night's life takes place in the Entertainment District, a buzzing part of City that never sleeps, never stops providing any form of diversion from the peoples' daily lives made possible by modern technology or simple, timeless forms of stress release.

Its intensely bright lights, sent out by enormous floodlights, illuminating some event or another, are visible from any high spot over the entirety of the megacity, even out toward its outer rims. Had any one of those seeking thrill or relief in the lively end of City decided to go home early, and had they been sober enough, they might have seen the half dozen shadows emerging from a nondescript transport unit, hushing down a side-streets and up the emergency stairs of one of the buildings.

At this time, though, no one is there to notice. No one who could notice heavily equipped figures creeping through the night. As quickly as they arrived, they vanish from the streets.

Now, five sets of eyes are looking at the spectacle at the far end of City, from atop a building, unremarkable by itself, inside the living areas. The sixth pair of eyes hides behind a visor, its function set to binoculars. The target of the viewer: the home of one M.U. Lunastra, across the street.

"That whole building seems to be empty, boss. All the lights are out." The man with the visor says, turning around to the others. All six of them are dressed in all-gray combat wear, fitting perfectly with the environment. Except for their weaponry. Black small arms, easily fitted into a holster, which again is white, on their thighs. They don't expect to need them, but being prepared for most conceivable circumstances is common sense for these people.

A tall, sinewy man walks over to his electronically bespectacled companion. "Yeah, well, there's still a few people in it. Some of the inhabitants are on night shift, the rest is split on going out or staying in. All we need to do is stay silent. We have the override for the emergency elevator out back, so we're not likely to run into anyone. It's cloudy, too, so not much light anywhere back there. I'd say something about luck, but then I don't have wood to knock on."

"So, what are we supposed to be searching for anyway? 'Everything abnormal or suspicious' isn't really descriptive, you know. Besides, what's abnormal? They just said this is the house of a businesswoman, so we _shouldn't _have to expect any trouble - nice downplay there - but it really does seem they already have some kind of idea what we're going to find." A third man, this one not as tall as his colleague, but a lot more muscly, joins the other two. The other half of the team, two men and a woman, follow along behind him silently, while they still observe the play of lights on the clouds that are gathering over their position.

"Well, if they know, they didn't tell me what it is, so we'll just look everywhere in there and take anything out of the ordinary with us. They did tell me I am to remind you, politely yet insistently – their words, not mine - that you keep your fingers off of any valuable loot. We've worked together before...well, most of us have." he says, throwing a weary look over to a smaller, stocky man. Him being a replacement for their usual sixth member, who had been caught up in an accident earlier in the week.

With a meaningful stare towards the newcomer, he continues his short elaboration "Never heard of or saw any of you stealing stuff, and I hope it will stay that way, but anyway, here I have told you what I was supposed to." A murmur of agreements, a nod from the temporarily new member, and a snort at that insinuation passes through the group.

The tall man, previously called Boss, takes a look at the small, dimly lit screen, sewn into his clothing's sleeve. He checks its indicated time and notices he doesn't have to adjust it on his old fashioned, sturdy looking mechanical wrist watch.

"You still have that thing? What, this little thing isn't reliable enough for you?" One of the so far silent characters inquires, tapping on his own sleeve computer to indicate what he's talking about.

"Yes, I do. From experience, I can tell you, it is never a bad thing to have a reliable substitute to a mission-essential device. Of course, we're not on a tight schedule here; if this woman hasn't returned yet, she certainly won't, until way after we're done. She's much too far away for that." the Boss explains. Standing up and facing his teammates, he adds "Well, it's time. We will stay here," he says, pointing to the other tall man he just conversed with and another of his still silent peers.

A bald, broad shouldered man grumbles an agreeing sound into his beard, adjusts his backpack to take it off and sets it down on the ground, taking out a device that resembles a video camera. He places it on a tripod at the edge of the roof, facing the team's target building. A small holographic picture appears between the legs of the tripod, showing a crystal clear enlargement of what the electronic eye of the camera sees.

As he taps the hologram, it calls up a menu at the side of the picture, on which he adjusts to a split-screen, one side with a night-vision setting and the other with thermal imaging. The latter shows him the presence and position of the people – and animals – inside the building. Two floors lower down and one in the middle apparently empty, the rest shows about a dozen red spots of where people are laying in their beds or moving around in their homes.

Meanwhile, the obvious team leader continues with his instructions "you three go in." while handing the woman a small device, not even the size of her hand, a little antenna sticking out from it. "You know how to work this. Head up the emergency staircase, wait for my signal at the top. They said 2200, so we'll go exactly then." He proceeds to have the teams adjust and synchronize their times, which is rarely necessary with the wrist computers, but, him being a cautionary man, he likes to stick to the motto of rather safe than sorry.

After a last check of their equipment, the three designated team members start heading down the building and arrive at ground level. Hidden in the shadows of the narrow side-street, they observe the area by eye and confirm with the other team, who are scanning the area with a second heat signature camera, that there will be no one who may remember shadowy figures rushing through the area.

Once across the street, again taking shelter from onlookers in another dark alley, they circle around the building they intend to climb and reach the door for the emergency staircase. The woman takes out the small device she received, programming it with the few buttons it has, sticks it to the locking mechanism of the door and takes a step back. A few seconds later, the device comes alive and, with a quiet whirr, lasers a hole through the lock. Automatically scanning for the inevitable alarm, seeing how this is an emergency exit, the device implants a secondary circuit to the alarm system, preventing it from going off in what would usually be a loud howling siren to alert the inhabitants, as well as send an emergency code to the local fire and police departments.

The door swings open silently, indicating that the device did its job properly and the small group enters and ascends the staircase. Adjusting their breathing to the stale air, they have to illuminate their way with flashlights, as the staircase doesn't feature any windows. A dusty ascent of almost two dozen floors later, passing a door leading onto the building's floor's respective hallways on each level, they arrive at the instructed 23rd floor. In front of yet another simple door, behind which lays the hallway leading to their destination.

Not far behind the two team members now waiting at the top, behind the door, is the new addition to their team. The two in front of him don't seem to think much about his presence, certain that he wouldn't have been chosen by their higher-ups if he couldn't do the job proper. They don't, however, see him taking out a small device from his backpack and checking it over, tugging slightly on wires, to see if they're still in place and adjusting a timing device mounted on top of the thing. He sets it to his desired time and, without activating it, puts it back into his pack.


	29. Chapter 26

The two women decided to settle down for the night, after they got together with the rest of the family – sans Mu's father – for a light dinner. Afterward, sighing deeply, she thought of taking the rest of the day, which already neared its end quickly, for some time to process all the new information, as well as going over what other questions arose with it.

So, now a half hour after their meal of fresh baked bread – indicating that Ainsley had listened in on their conversation at some point – fresh made cheese, according to Ainsley, and obviously real meat, unlike usual in City, Mu stayed inside, talking with her mother and Marie sits on the second story terrace once more, amazed that she can do so comfortably with no more than a light jacket. _Just incredible...everything. _

Looking up into the crystal clear sky, a sight spreads above her that isn't visible from City. _Absolutely incredible. _The intense lights from the metropolis, however dark it might be in some parts of it at night, drowned out the amazing display of the star filled night sky. Here they were on perfectly visible display, backlit by the enormous, colorful nebula in a close, but ever so distant cosmic neighborhood. A small, full moon illuminating the area just enough so she could navigate the terrace without needing any artificial lighting The last time she's seen this sight is only a distant memory for her.

Under that kind of view, she reviews the days revelations, trying to get her head around the fact that an entirely new species has just announced its existence. Apparently to her alone and only very few others long before. She tries to comprehend the impact this has, not only on her case, but on herself as well. Not willing – yet – to dwell on her personal feelings about all this, she works her professional mind over the problem first.

_Well, for my case it's rather simple. While there's little doubt she tells me the truth about her race..._ shaking her head, she corrects herself ..._its existence in the first place...she might still be involved in it all. Everything seems to be pointing at a third party, however, so I have to assume that those people know about her. _

Sighing, she considers the possibilities of how a group of humans might know about this new life form, that, according to one of its members, controls as much of society as is necessary to hide themselves. _If she says they have eidetic memories and she can remember falling unconscious once, and if I also assume that she's careful and very obviously intelligent enough not to fall for any dumb trick, I suppose I can safely assume they didn't drug her or something like that._

_Her research, then. Also unlikely, seeing how she would be equally careful._ She leans back in her chair, her head laying on the backrest._ Question is, how did she hide the fact that she was researching a genetic defect of hers. _She cocks her head to the side. _Come to think of it, how she hide her research from that group that approached her? I mean, it must've been quite obvious that the material she was working with wasn't human. Or are we that similar? Something I need to ask._

She is surprised to find herself already getting the reference to Mu's race out, if only in her head, without hesitating over them. _So it is already settling in_. she sighs._ But then, it really helps that she remains looking human. _It didn't escape her, though, that the other woman clearly noticed her believing the stories so easily.

–

When Mu asked during their evening meal "Is it really alright for you, all this? You are still fine with me staying here for now? I have to admit, I was hoping you would accept, or at the very least not immediately dismiss all my claims, but this must be quite difficult, coming all so suddenly."

Marie was just about to answer with a simple dismissal of Mu's worries, but it struck her that the other woman said she was **hoping** for her to believe her. Smiling wryly, she reconsidered her approach. "Well, yeah, it's really a lot to take in. But, so far, everything connects logically, at least theoretically, since I have no solid proof yet. Except for your...your..."

"My transformation?" Mu smiles warmly

"Yeah, that." Marie's voice trails off, as the images played through her head once more.

–

Rubbing her temples, trying to massage away the still present uncomfortableness._ The question remains, is this a good thing? Her people seem like they settled in with humanity just fine. Or maybe the other way round..? Certainly none of them will be on any watch list of ours for any criminal behavior..until this case, of course. And I have a feeling we can rule out all of them for petty crimes._

A snort escapes her at that thought, her mind suddenly finds a missing connection in the reports of the other woman. _What's that defect anyway? Her egg? Is that even possible to be genetic? Never mind that... _she shakes her head again, unwilling and unable, really, to think about a connection between the two. The likelihood that the egg is the center point of the groups interest, though, is steadily rising. _It really shapes up to be a centerpiece in this whole case. But they wouldn't know about it when they don't know about her species._

Her thoughts are interrupted when the door to the terrace opens audibly. Turning around, Marie watches Ainsley approach her. Under the moon's light, the combination of silvery white hair and, weren't they displaying the gentleness so obviously, almost scary red eyes make for quite a sight on the woman dressed in simple jeans and white sweater. _Makes me wonder what __**her**__..real hair color is._

Stopping next to Marie, they simply regard each other for a slightly stretched moment, until the woman asks with a motherly gentle voice "How are you feeling?"

Letting out a small laugh, Marie grins wryly. "Lost. Overwhelmed." eliciting a warm smile from Ainsley as well. "It's just..." Lacking the words once more, she shrugs in a helpless gesture.

"I would say you are doing just fine, you know."

"I am beginning to believe it all – seeing Mu transform really helped that – but what I still can't really believe is that you're letting me in on this. I mean not only because of my investigation, which I'm sure you are capable of diverting. I mean trust...trusting me...with all this." she stumbles over the word, only now fully realizing that to be the case. _That's right...they're trusting me._ And before she can think about it, she blurts out "Why? Why trust me with this?"

And yet again Marie finds herself under the scrutiny of those fascinating eyes, having to concentrate so she doesn't budge under their intensity. "Because you are here." Ainsley finally says, her warm smile making its way back in its place, but her eyes display all the seriousness with which she says it. "Because you believed there is more to the story my daughter presented to you than a disturbed individual's ramblings." Surprising Marie with a cheeky grin that makes her look almost younger than her own daughter – _My word...I guess this is what Mu's secretary meant. And it runs in the family.._ – Ainsley adds "I won't blame you for thinking it, though." making them both laugh.

When they both calm down a bit, Marie looks at the other woman gratefully "Thank you." and sighs, leaning back into the chair. "It really does help to look at this like a normal case, you know? It makes it a lot easier than the emotional instinct to disbelieve such an outrageous claim. And...yeah, it seems I went by instinct, trying to find out if Mu was telling an elaborate hoax or the truth, before I went ahead of myself and admitted...your daughter..." _However much I may believe them, it still feels __**really**__ weird to think of this woman as Mu's mother..._

She doesn't realize that she physically shows her imagined wry grin, until the other woman comments on it like she read her mind "You will get used to it, eventually." seeing how that's the only thing that comment fit. _Well, crap._ Hiding her inward cringe successfully this time, she turns around to find Ainsley wearing a smile and her eyes filled with only humor. They look at each other for a moment and finally break out into laughter once more, dispelling all remaining unease.

Marie is just about to get up to wish the other woman a good night and head for her room, when Ainsley turns toward the terrace door in a surprised, quick motion. "A call? At this time of day?" she mumbles, slightly concerned.

Marie looks at her surprised even more than the woman herself seems to be "You can hear that from here?" remembering how far away, through several walls, the unit is, relative to their position.

"Oh." Ainsley snaps back to attention from concentrating on listening and smiles at Marie "Yes. A species trait." Seemingly catching more sounds pertaining to the call, she listens closely again. "Mu is taking the call." she murmurs. "Athana? What could she want this late?" slight worry replaces the frown on Ainsley's expression.

"Everything alright?" Marie gets up from her seat and, while a bit confused, can't help herself from feeling a little worried as well. _Receiving a call this late is not normal, then? _

For a few moments neither of them moves or says anything. It is only when Ainsley takes in a sharp breath and very obvious worry now darkens her features that Marie can guess something rather not good happened. Marie can't hear the thudding of bare feet running along the wooden floor of the main hall beneath her, neither can she see Mu running out the front door. But she can clearly see the figure that suddenly ascends to the sky. A shadow like an enormous bird cast against the mass of clouds, brightly illuminated by the full moon, over City.

Protruding from a decidedly human body, huge wings swing in powerful motion and a thin tail slithers in accompanying motion, quickly propelling the figure up and away from the house. Marie stares in wonder until her mind provides an answer to her unconsciously asked question. _Dragons._ Realization hits her like a punch, she even loses balance slightly, taking a step back. "Is that..." she whispers, her wide-eyed stare never leaving the the departing figure.

With her voice full of worry, Ainsley turns to Marie and answers "Yes. That is Mu."

The voice drags Marie's mind back to consciousness and, as her stare falls on the woman next to her, a second realization hits her. "So you're...you are..."

Managing a small smile, Ainsley confirms "Quite right."


	30. Chapter 27

At precisely 22:00, the trio receives the go ahead from their Boss. They enter the hallway through the door they had been waiting behind, this one without any alarms built in and no locking mechanism, making their task that little bit easier. The observing cameras from the other side of the street indicated that there is no activity in that hallway, so the three rush silently toward the open staircase at the end of the hall, turning right, up and, behind the structure's wall, leading up to the out-of-view backdoor to Lunastra's apartments.

The woman makes quick work of the lock with the tiny device she had picked up again from the lock on the ground floor and the thee make their way into the residence of their target. The door is left open, they don't have to worry about anyone noticing activity here, since Lunastra has the last two floors to herself. They spread out into the apartment, searching through the rooms quickly, their headgear functioning as night vision equipment.

The woman heads up to the second floor, making quick work of sweeping the few open and largely empty rooms, while the third man checks through the equally, with little, but all the more obviously comfortable furniture equipped rooms at the back of the apartment. Meanwhile, the new guy spots the bookshelf and peruses its contents for anything worth to their endeavor.

Speaking quietly into the headset that connects between all six of them, he informs them "There's nothing here that looks like we need to take." Pulling out one book after another, leafing through them quickly and throwing them behind himself without care, he gets increasingly irritated. "What, is this all a joke?"

Groaning inwardly, the man at the other end of the apartment restrains himself from lashing out verbally. "If there isn't anything, then so be it. There's still that one room with the door here, so what a surprise it'll be if what we're supposed to find is there, right?"

From above, the woman reports with a curt "All clear." and heads down to meet the other two.

The trio gathers in front of the hallway where the third man is already waiting for his peers, who then also points toward the closed off room he just mentioned. "That's got to be the jackpot, then." he declares and straight away proceeds to open the door. His surprise at finding it unlocked lasts only for a second, as he notices that the door leads to no more than a tiny storeroom.

"Well, I call that unusual. Both." The woman remarks.

"Yeah, certainly." The man lets go of the door and is just about to look deeper into the room, when he realizes that there is no more to it than the small area barely three people could fit into.

"Alright, that must be it. Take it with you." The team leader suddenly chimes in over the headsets, having watched his colleagues' progress via the tiny cameras mounted to the device.

"Seriously?" The new guy asks, incredulously. "It's a stone. A huge stone. How are we supposed to carry this?" Stepping closer, he slaps on the rock's surface, expecting it to feel and sound like a solid one. To his surprise, and that of all his peers, the rock sways slightly in its position, sounding somewhat hollow. "What the...?" He bends down to grab it and easily lifts it by himself. "Oh-kay..."

Annoyed by the man's behavior, the team leader speaks out a lot harsher than he wanted "Just what is it you think you are doing?" Shaking his head, though his team can't see, he tries to calm himself down. "Great, then, there's your answer. Alright, get out of there."

Wordlessly, the other two teammates look at each other, then, with a shrug, turn around to head back out. They both stop in their tracks when the man behind them speaks up once more "Wait." slowly, but surely feeling the irritation their leader just displayed rising in themselves.

"Here, you take it." Awkwardly handing the object to the other man, he explains "I thought I saw something between the books we could want as well." and immediately heads back into the living room, simply leaving the other two behind. After another look between the two, both of them shaking their heads, they head for the door they came from and wait there.

Not a minute later, the new guy returns to them, nothing indicating that he brought anything with him. "Well, what did you find?" The woman inquires, here rising eyebrow goes unnoticed in the darkness.

"Never mind, it was nothing." he waves it off. Quickly enough, but casually, so that the others don't get angry, he adds "Looked like some notes from biotechnology experiments or something. I'm not versed in that, so I had to take a closer look. Turns out it's just stuff from the research of that Daora woman. Remember her? The one wanting to make City green?"

A short silence between the three is broken by the team leader "Yeah, I remember." Though he's sounding a little skeptically, he can neither think of a reason to disbelieve the man's words, nor to send one of the others to check up on that, so he accepts the explanation and tells the group to proceed with their extraction.

Down at the exit of the emergency staircase again, their way there undisturbed, they confer with the team leader, learning that his group has already packed up and their transport is on its way. "Everything according to plan." The Boss tells the team via his headset and informs them that his group is now almost at street level. Both groups, staying in the completely dark shadows of the buildings, step closer toward the street, signaling each other across it that they are in position to be picked up.

Still wearing his visor, the man from the rooftop group scans their surroundings for unwanted onlookers. When their transport arrives, his head swings its way, following its arrival until it stops right between their split groups. After one final sweep of the still empty street, the visor man signals for the two groups to get into the vehicle.

Before they're even all seated, the vehicle takes off, slow and steady, just like it arrived, so it doesn't raise any suspicions, should there be anyone entering the vicinity and notice it. Once seated, they collectively stare at the object that sits in the middle between them. "What is that supposed to be?" asks the least talkative member of their group.

He wouldn't receive an answer, though. Not because none of them, not even their drivers, would have known what the object or its purpose is, but because of a very noticeable tremor shaking their entire transport, having the group look every which way, as the roads within City are usually spotlessly smooth. Without any obvious source for the vibrations, they turn their attention outward, on instinct in the direction they just left.

Bright red and orange flames, spitting out a growing cloud of black smoke, emerge from what was once the two story apartment of Mu Lunastra.

"What is that? What happened?" The woman asks, looking at their leader. She finds his expression shows just as much confusion as she herself feels. Slowly all their eyes meet, all of them show the same uncertainty and confusion. All of them, except the replacement in their team. "What did you do?" The Boss and two of his fellows ask in unison.

He merely shrugs nonchalantly "I cleaned up behind us. As I have been instructed."

"Instructed..." The Boss couldn't but feel somewhat betrayed, even though they had no greater connection to their employer than the quite large sum of money in their accounts. He could also not help but think if they would've gotten any one of his team to do this kind of thing. His people were mercenaries, sure, but none of them would bomb uninvolved bystanders. And that blast, seeing how they could still feel this far away, will surely have injured, if not worse, the few residents left in the building.

"Dammit, what where they thinking..." He couldn't exactly blame the new guy, as he, too, is only a hired hand. Their employers simply picked someone less scrupulous than usual. At the guy isn't being smug about it, otherwise he would have decked him already.

Still, it has him worried about the replaced member of his team. For most of the rest of their way back to their headquarters, he stares at the man who just detonated a large explosive device in a populated area. Now he is well aware that, if their employers were fine with ordering that, they would have no qualms about getting rid of his colleague, just so this one could fill his spot. He hopes that isn't the case.


	31. Chapter 28

Marie forces herself, with quite some effort, to set aside any and all questions the newest revelations rose and instead focus on what just happened that made Mu leave in such a hurry and manner. "What happened? Is everything alright?" she repeats her earlier question, regarding Ainsley intently. It didn't escape her that the other woman grew increasingly worried before Mu had left, but she remained quiet until now.

"No." she admits now, exhaling shakily. "No, it is not all right." Regarding Marie with equal intensity, she thinks for a moment on how to proceed. "Please, come this way." Indicating for Marie to follow her, she heads toward the terrace door. "I will explain on the way."

While she leads Marie back through the house, down to the ground floor and in the direction of where Mu had indicated the garage for the family's flyer during their tour, Ainsley tries to keep a calm voice to explain what that call was about. "As I said, it was Athana who called. I didn't hear all of it, but it appears that something happened to Mu's home and now it is on fire. Athana spoke of an explosion."

Taking two steps on the stairs at once to be able to follow the other woman down into the basement, where the flyer has its starting ramp, Marie almost stumbles. A stab of purely non-professional worry, as well as accompanying jumbled mess of thoughts only about Mu, rather than what it means for her case, runs through her mind. Unfocused, she now walks slowly down the stairs, unconsciously leaning on her hand on the wall to her side.

Concerned red eyes meet hers, but she doesn't really see them. Only when the other woman speaks up, does Marie regain her focus. "Are you alright?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Marie grins sheepishly, trying to avoid confronting the direction her feelings just took, slowly growing aware of just how different these people are. _Well, yeah, of course you're worried about the woman. But it's not like she was there when...whatever it was, happened. But others were! Her home couldn't have been empty! That's what you should worry about...as well. _And finally that thought lets her focus on the implications toward her case.

"That's very unlikely to be a coincidence that just happens to her apartments right when she's here with the police in tow." She mumbles, by now aware that the people around her here can hear her very well still. "But that's some ballsy move. And what's the point of doing it, even if they took something from her?"

The two of them arrive at the flyer and Marie realizes what could have been the only two explanations for such an action and looks up, shocked, at Ainsley, only to find that the other woman had thought of it already "This group Mu and you have talked about, or whomever it is now that created this situation, either just burned down the apartment including or simply took Mu's egg with them and...perhaps covered their actions?"

Pacing around the room, Marie's worry increases steadily. She is certain that the egg was taken, not damaged or even destroyed in the fire. _Anything else wouldn't make any sense. _"What can I do...?" Marie asks herself quietly, starting to think over how to find where the people that did the attack may have gone. An idea forms, but that would require Added to that, she is worrying more and more about the woman – and increasingly the precious object she had hidden, jumbling her thoughts around and making it hard for her to concentrate on doing her job.

"Firstly, I am sure you will want to follow Mu." Ainsley offers and points at the flyer "Which is why I led you here. You can take our flyer. It is much faster than Mu's and its range suffices to reach her apartments." The woman is already opening the hatch to the vehicle, when she notices Marie's hesitation.

"Don't you want to come?" Despite the small signs of stress and worry, Marie is baffled by the calmness Ainsley seems to be able to keep. _Is it something with your nature? _

"Though I admit I would love to have just up and followed Mu earlier already, I believe there is very little I could do. But, showing you a way to follow her and having you follow her at all, I think will be of more use to her. You are also with the police, so you have influence there." She smiles sadly "I think I would only get in the way, were I to come and fuss. Just promise me that you will do what you can to help my daughter."

"That I can do. I want to help her." Hesitating still, she finally steps into the flyer and turns around to face Ainsley once more "Well...if you're sure you don't want to come..." Seeing the other woman nod in affirmation, Marie takes a deep breath and enters the cockpit. The quiet "Be careful." that accompanies her there doesn't go unappreciated. _I'm really not sure what I can do to help someone from a species I just learned of and who claim to have entered our society from nearly the beginning – which I don't even doubt anymore... _

Ainsley has already operated the console in the basement, opening the hatch for the flyer to exit, while Marie inputs the data required for her to lift off and start in the direction of City. The flyer obediently rises from the ground, shaking a little while hovering._ I hope this one holds as well as the other one. They don't seem to use them much. _The fleeting thought passes her mind as she remembers the first time seeing Mu's flyer. This machine seemed, to the small part of Marie's mind that payed attention to it at that moment, at least decent from the outside, but makes a bad impression on start up.

She looks back, though without being able to see Ainsley, asking herself if it is the right thing to do, just leaving the woman behind. _But she made the decision..._ Sighing, Marie instructs the flyer to take off. She is surprised by the ferocity with which it gains speed and that, once at a steady top speed, it rides comfortably through the increasingly aggravated weather, the closer she gets to City. _Damn, this thing's been tinkered with pretty heavily. _

The distracting thought lasts only a short moment, as, when she lifts her eyes from the console to look out over the scenery quickly streaming by, a shiver runs down her spine from the view. The area where City should be is covered by a thunderstorm, illuminating intimidatingly enormous clouds, hovering low over the metropolis. _Gives you a sense of foreboding, doesn't it?_

The instrumentation of her vehicle telling Marie that her goal is just under an hour away from her position, validating the feeling of really fast speeds Marie has, not only from looking out the windshield. It is still ample time for her to think about the possibilities of how the arsonists, bombers even, will proceed from here on.

Though her thoughts are always straying back around to the what ifs of what will happen to Mu now. What exactly it is that happened in the first place. _It's all so much to take in at once, and then it had to go and get complicated._ A frustrated sigh escapes her and the picture in her mind of the departing figure against the bright sky, accompanied by the words of Ainsley, telling her that it actually was Mu, make her pinch the bridge of her nose. _No, it wasn't complicated before this incident...not at all._

Another thought hits her like a blow to the chest. A realization of something she had forgotten, because of the diversion in that moment and, afterward, all that had happened since. She puts the flyer on full autopilot when she remembers the bits of conversation she overheard between Mu and Ainsley, but foremost the strange sensation she felt in the apartment of Mu. The subconscious tug that had her wanting to get close to the egg. _What... _Marie had already fully realized that the other woman knew her behavior then, but she didn't want to face what it means. Now, though, combined with Mu's comment that Marie's reaction had never occurred before, she knows full well there are personal implications.

_Does my reacting to it mean so much? Was it, in the end, that which compelled her to go home? But why? What would have happened, if...she looked really concerned, when I was about to touch it, just before I nearly collapsed. I hope it wouldn't have been damaged, contaminated or something like that...If so, why didn't she pull me away from it? Even showed it to me up close. _

Sighing, she can't manage to shake the pictures of an injured Mu in her mind. _Why injured anyway...the explosion's already over. I hope she doesn't do anything rash. _

–

Having come to no conclusion as to who would benefit in what way from the apartment being obliterated, she reaches the outer limits of City – by now thoroughly engulfed by the blowing storm. Rain splatters forcefully against the windshield and thunder explodes so close it makes even Marie, who usually enjoys a good thunderstorm, feel a little wary. _Come to think of it, Mu...flew..through this without a transport, right? _Though the ridiculousness of the thought doesn't escape her, the worry she feels increases and as soon as her vehicle is getting close to the home of the woman she's following, she can feel her heart pound heavily in her chest.

From quite a bit away, her view now clear, as the storm is now behind her, slowly but surely following her, she can already see the remnants of a fire rising into the air that has yet to be cleaned by the rain. Thin, black tendrils of ashes reaching for the sky are blown apart by the rising winds, the fire itself already put out by the swift response teams of firefighters and. And, Marie assumes from standard procedure, the inhabitants that had been involved in the blast – and the sight of broken windows in front of her shows it shook several houses around the main target – should have been treated already as well.

Something in her vision is flashing with precise frequency, as she flies slowly through the street, already close to the house with the apartment she's seeking. The flickering catches her attention and makes for something for to focus on, putting the racing thoughts about the well being of Mu. Her thoughts a little clearer, she realizes the bright blue, blinking light is emitted by the signal lamps of District Security vehicles, half a dozen of them blockading the street around the entrance to the building that received the majority of the bomb's blast.

Deciding to set down the flyer and see what her colleagues, or most likely subordinates have found out so far, she instructs her vehicle to land just far enough away from the barricades so she doesn't stress the men and women on the scene unnecessarily. Taking a deep breath, she exits the flyer as soon as it settles on the ground, still making sure it's locked behind her.

Standing next to the vehicle, Marie looks up to the remains of the nice home she visited just two days ago._ The apartment itself will be the least of her worries..._ An image of Mu's worried face comes to her mind and makes her realize something she missed up to now. _Where is she anyway? I didn't...pass her..during flight. Is she already up there? Just how fast is she?_

She hurries over to the barricade, spotting a familiar face in Deputy Eric Delon and greets him, hiding her wariness. The Deputy, usually under her command, but living in this area, so he must have been one of the first on the scene, is surprised to find Marie at the scene "Hello Captain. What are you doing here? Haven't heard that someone else of us is coming." His light blond eyebrows, matching the color of his short cut hair, sit high on his forehead.

"Ah, well..." Marie hadn't thought about anything but the other woman, so she finds herself momentarily stumped at what to say. "I was in the area." Feeling bad about lying, she corrects as much as she can, without going into too much detail._ Anyway, it's not like he's going to question me._ "I mean, I heard about the bombing and took the flyer here. What's the situation?" _Easiest to just get to business._

If Eric suspected anything amiss, he didn't show it. Instead, he informs Marie like he would any superior. "Well, about an hour ago, an explosion occurred in this building" he points to the entrance where Marie feels herself wanting to rush into with growing urgency "cause as of yet unknown. Luckily, despite the size of the explosion, we have no casualties to report, but there are six very critically hurt residents. They were driven to the Residential Hospital no thirty minutes after the blast completely tore the top two apartments away."

Looking around, he indicates to the adjourning buildings. "The rest is mostly broken glass, a few cracked walls and a lot of scared locals. The homes can be fixed, but we need to determine the cause of the explosion to reassure the residents that there's nothing to worry. There **is **nothing to worry...right?" He looks at Marie, searching her face for

"I don't think so." Looking up to the apartments, she sounds much less sure to herself than she shows outwardly. _I don't think they'd go for another blow...Daora knew, so she will have taken precautions. Her workplace should be of no consequence to those people, so I think that's alright as well. _She is growing increasingly concerned, antsy to just rush up the building's floors,

Marie is missing the speculatively doubtful look Eric shoots her, before he shrugs it off. "Alright. We're waiting on an inspection team for the building's structure, because the top 4 floors seemed unstable when we first tried to go in. There were no heat signature readings up there, when the fire was put out so for, now, we're holding back the teams. Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes until they're here. It's still the middle of the night, though."

Absentminded, really not having heard the man, Marie starts walking toward the entrance of the ruined building. Eric, slightly worried by her lack of interaction, thinking at first that she is just about to walk away, grabs her arm when she walks through the holographic line, displaying a _Keep out!_ message circling around the vicinity. "Hey, didn't you listen?" He turns her around to face him, seeing a flash of anger in her features, quickly replaced by an apologetic look.

A few of their colleagues' heads turn toward the two, Eric's risen voice making them respond quick, until they notice to whom he's speaking and they relax again. Though word spreads between them quickly, all of them wondering what the Captain of the fourth district is doing here. Eric sighs and repeats himself, just in case Marie really didn't hear "The upper floors could collapse any minute. I don't think you'll want to go there."

Without words, her stricken expression tells him enough, though not the reason she's so adamant to go in there. He does, however, realize that there is much more to it than mere curiosity. "I can't stop you, can I? And you won't be giving me a reason, are you?"

"I'm sorry." She shows him a genuine, albeit small smile.

He lets go of her arm with a sigh and shakes his head. "It's alright, I guess. It's not like you owe me an explanation, you being my boss and all." winking at her. "But I would appreciate it if you were careful, you know. Don't want to have to explain what I am about to do to the Commander."

"Thank you, Eric." She knows that isn't enough, but, eventually – possibly – she can return the favor somehow. She assures him she will try to do so and, with his laugh following her, she makes her way to the entrance of the building. The other deputies and officers keeping their posts lets her go in undisturbed.


	32. Chapter 29

Entering the undecorated, edgily designed foyer, Marie's eyes and nose immediately get assaulted by thick air, filled with dust and soot. Her shoes, hitting the now blackened surface, illuminated by few still shining lights, disperse even more particles into the hall. She holds a handkerchief in front of her nose and mouth, with a sure, quick step, she starts to ascend the staircase, as the elevator is obviously out of order, its doors standing halfway open, the light inside flickering.

Two floors up, it is becoming obvious that there will be less light the higher she reaches, so Marie pulls out a tiny, but very bright flashlight she brought from the flyer. She finds little damage, much unlike what she expected after a blast that took off the entire second, as well as the roof to the first floor of Mu's apartment. But then she doesn't have a view into the other people's homes.

A few very long cracks split the walls surrounding the staircase, but quite a lot of the glasses set in them is still intact. Up to the fifth floor, the eery rest of the light from the police vehicles and barricade outside accompanies Marie's ascent and shimmers over the relatively clean walls, producing shadows that unnerve her slightly, as she can't even begin to imagine what sight will meet her at her goal. _Assuming she's even there. But where else would she be..._

At about half the way up, Marie has to take a short break, her breathing becoming strained, because of the dirt in the air and her way to shield her lungs from it. _Oh geez, if this goes on, I'll be overtaken by the engineers they called in. _The storm has now caught up to the sector this building stands in, so when she looks outside, she can see the torrential rain washing the soot away on the outside in a flood. Spurred on by nature's display of relentlessness, she pushes herself off the wall, an agitated huff escaping her and hurries onward, increasing her pace as much as she can.

Despite that she is wheezing strongly near the top, she soldiers on, only two more flights of stairs before her. _Well, one. The other one's gone._ Though she hadn't actively registered Eric's warning, it makes its way out of her subconscious into the foreground of her mind when she hears the creaking and cracking of broken and splitting building materials around her. A small jolt runs through the floor she's standing on when a particularly discouragingly loud snap announces the departure of yet another carrying part of the structure.

Unlike the emergency staircase, this normal one has no door at each floor, so Marie steps out onto the hallway that she first took three days ago to meet the woman she now hopes to find there again. Since one side, to the left of Marie, is open to the elements, she immediately gets drenched in her rather light clothes. A welcoming sensation over the stuffy and still overly warm encasing she exits. But she takes no time to appreciate it, instead immediately runs to the doorway she first found herself in front of not long ago.

The door already stands ajar, but it wouldn't hold anyone out anymore even if it were closed. To the left of it a huge hole had been torn into the wall by the explosion, granting anyone access had they the chance to get to this floor in the first place. Marie still uses the door, finding it somehow unnerving to enter through the rubble, but its hinges are bent, so she has to use more force than she expected. Leaning into it, she pushes and suddenly there is a loud snap as the hinges give in, the door breaking off of them.

Barely managing to keep her balance, having to lean on the door frame, she lets out a small yelp. Finally her mind regains focus, really taking in her surroundings for the first time since she entered the main entrance of the building. Up on this now top floor, the remains of the explosion are barely charred, with the building material itself inflammable.

But the entry way to Mu's apartments, previously lined with small wooden applications here and there, is now gone in its entirety, making it seem like Marie is entering the living room right away. Except that there is a large hole in the ground of the living room, apparently stretching out over half the entire floor, taking with it part of the kitchen area, as well as a large piece of the one room the owner of the place is really concerned about.

_My goodness..._ Marie feels her heart clench at the thought about the possibility that the object of concern was still in place when it happened. She walks a little closer to the edge of the hole and spots a way around it that leads behind the bit of wall that is still standing, blocking her view on what is left of the small closet. Crabbing along the edge, she has to steady herself on the sharp edged remains of wall left between her and a fall down to the next floor, making her progress rather difficult. It doesn't help, that the floor, or what is left of it, creaks and bends disconcertingly underneath her feet.

Finally reaching the other end, just a few steps into the far off room Marie hadn't been in the first time she was here, she treads lightly around the separating wall, as this part of the floor is even more unstable. Paying it little mind, no more than necessary not to fall into it, she rounds the corner.

It was next to impossible to fully realize what she saw when, as Ainsley confirmed, Mu left her home in a hurry and, apparently, her natural form. So even with the sight that's now in front of her, Marie can't really grasp the implications, the reality of it. Wordlessly staring, the little flashlight in Marie's hands illuminate only the ground, as she lowers her hand unconsciously, awe and wonder replacing concentration.

Standing tall, motionless, in front of where there used to be a small room, Mu's striking figure is clearly offset from the dark, stormy background, looming over the broken remains of the woman's home. Fitting the shapes Marie saw shimmering in the sunlight, two huge, leathery wings, almost as tall as as Mu herself, protrude from the back of a muscly back, scantly clad in torn rests of the shirt Mu had worn during their conversation.

Equally ragged, but still in place are the once comfortable slacks, now almost tautly wrapped around strong legs that lead up to the firm behind, atop of which, from the small of her back, the physical manifestation of the other shape a thick end of a tail emerges. Thinning out the longer it grows, the finger tip thick end of it twitches slightly on the ground at Mu's still human feet.

A bright lightning illuminates the entirety of the form Marie has all her focus on, letting her take in more details, as the thunder following the light rumbles its way through the sky. Thick, almost completely opaque light brown skin forms the membrane of the wing, while the turquoise color play that Marie had been shown with Mu's revelation seems to continue from the head-plate that is now back in place, along the shell like ears and hair, falling over the base of the wings.

Though disrupted by bare shoulders of normal, albeit very light skin color, the greenish hue appears to melt over from the mop of wildly ruffled hair, onto the skin wrapping the primary bone structure of the wing itself. Obviously flexible, but seemingly hard, scale like plates cover the skin down the partially vested, mostly bare back that carries the large appendages. Starting from under where the wings grow out the back, along her back, as well as on the lower part of arms that hang, with muscles taut in tension at her sides, the scales of bluish green seem to continue down where they are hidden by the pants. The latter being ripped through, except for the waistband still holding it up, by the tail, which is of a lighter, nearly faded to white, green on the bony top ridges and a dark blue on the skin of its underside.

Marie can only stare, all sense of time and location lost, unconsciously taking a step forward. The sound that produced, though she herself might not have heard it, seems to alert the creature...the woman in front of her. Burning gold eyes, hues interchanging around the slits of irises, seeming like a liquid storm in sockets narrowed thin by intense anger. Marie is jolted out of her stupor, but still regards the other woman in wonder. Strangely, she doesn't feel threatened by the display of animalistic rage. Even when the imposing figure takes a step into her direction, growling deeply, a threatening posture in all her movements, Marie can only think of the sadness in the reasons that drove the gentle and strong minded woman this far.

Suddenly, showing sharp teeth in a snarl, the woman charges her, in an instant she crosses the distance between them, grabbing Marie roughly by the shoulders and slams her into the wall a half step next to Marie. It is only because of the short distance that Marie isn't hurt badly by the force of the impact, but she is still wincing from hitting her head, her vision slightly blurred for a second.

Pinned to wall, Marie shakes her head once, pushing the cloudiness from her head. When she looks up again, at the woman holding her down, their eyes meet. Completely inappropriate to the situation, the first thing that comes to her mind is admiration for the beauty in the face a mere hand's breadth away from hers. _How utterly ridiculous...How utterly beautiful._

At last taking a moment to consider what happened, she notices that since the initial attack, the arms that hold her immovably in place, but not without so much pressure that it hurts, haven't moved a muscle. The eyes that were cloudy with fury slowly regain focus on what they are looking at. "Mu..." Marie breathes. Feeling a faint twitch in the arms around her shoulders, she assumes her voice has been recognized. Quietly, Marie tries to reach the other woman "It's alright. It's just me." just so managing to grab the strong, cold and sturdy arm of Mu.

Marie can see the realization settling into the features of Mu's face, a bit of shock, mixed with surprise. "You..." a deep, raspy voice, so very different from the voice Marie listened to already, but still distinctively recognizable. "You followed me." Her grip on Marie falters, letting her slide down from standing on her toes to flat on the surface. "Why?" Pain shows clearly in the golden eyes, the question itself clearly about more than just Marie's presence.

Since she has no idea what to say about the implication to what happened, Marie at least addresses the reason for her being here "I was concerned, of course." Which, when she thinks about it, doesn't really explain the intensity of her need to rush after Mu, as there was no danger to the woman herself and Marie has every confidence in the authorities now waiting to be allowed to get to work that they are capable in dealing with a situation like this. _So..I just rushed after you..._

Neither the situation, nor Marie herself allows for admitting that fact outright, so she leaves it at the rather ambiguous explanation. Mu on the other hand has, as Marie is well aware, other worries than that, so she shoves that thought away and concentrates on the other woman, who has just taken a step back and released her from the hold, leaving behind a strange sensation from the slim, claw like, scale covered hands gripping her arms.


	33. Chapter 30

"Why..." Mu asks, hushed, once more. She startles Marie, when she takes another step back, suddenly flaring her wings, her arms' muscles tense, shouting, screaming an entirely inhuman cry into the night's sky. Rain trickles down the agonized face, jaw clenched, a shudder visibly shaking her entire body. One second brimming with rage and in the next she suddenly seems to lose all strength, all fight. Simply standing upright, which seems to be all that's left she can do then, she cocks her head slightly, regarding Marie with a tired expression, showing a small, lost smile without any humor. "It is gone. They have taken it."

Marie feels a strong need to do something for Mu, anything, but doesn't even know what could be considered at least appropriate. _How do you comfort someone in a situation like this? Heck, what situation __**is**__ this, really?_ She briefly wonders if her fellow police officers heard the scream down at the street level and if they shouldn't be making their way out of this place quickly.

_It could turn out pretty ugly if they found her here, in this state. _Though she trusts that the officers wouldn't cause harm thoughtlessly, if they found Mu like this, the woman herself might lash out defensively and cause a reaction on their side. _Am I belittling her with that assumption? She's obviously not beyond rational thought. _Wholly unsure what to do and thinking any standard issue police training set phrases completely inappropriate, she tries the only other option she can think of; a pragmatic approach.

Reminding herself that she has lost track of time and having no clock with her, since she left everything behind in a hurry and nothing up here seems to function, Marie pushes aside any complications and questions that arose from the other woman's current state. "We should get out of here, for now." she is surprised by how calmly she can talk to Mu, but ignores that feeling – for now – as well, for the benefit of hurrying to not be found. And, if she is honest with herself, not having to explain it to herself.

Sympathy, sadness, even a tinge of anger swirl through Marie's mind when she regards the other woman, who is still standing stock still, showing no sign about her state of mind, after the shattering outcry. Merely her eyes are following Marie. _It looks like she's about to snap. _But the disturbingly beautiful play of fluid madness in her eyes was instantly gone when Mu recognized Marie just before.

"There is nothing we can do here anymore, right?" she walks over to where half of the small room collapsed into the hole. Squatting at the hole's edge, peering down two floors of previously inhabited apartments, which were luckily empty at the time. Keeping in mind the nature of this woman and what she told her, Marie chooses to ask "Can you tell if it's...unharmed?" She doesn't, of course, need to specify what she means.

"Yes." When she finally does so, Mu responds unexpectedly normal, except for her strange voice, which has Marie turn around and look at her surprised, but saying nothing herself. "I could always feel it, just as I can now. However, it does not let me know about its location." The rain stopped after it died down slowly for the past few minutes, leaving both women drenched and Mu looking like she had just cried, which isn't unthinkable to Marie, but she wouldn't comment on it either way. _She's burdened enough._

"I'm sorry." Immediately after it's out, she regrets saying it. _Such a...tacky condolence._ _Dammit, I was never too good with these situations. _"I mean...well, anyway" she intends to change topics to stop herself, but as she's getting up and walks over to the other woman, she is amazed to find the woman showing her a smirk."What?" _She already recovered?_

"I cannot change what has happened." Calmed down again, Mu surprises with completely rational argumentation. _A defense mechanism, perhaps? Did she...lose it? _But the tautly clenched fists at her side indicate clearly that she has to force herself to keep calm, letting Marie believe she's doing her best to control herself. _Anyone who doesn't know her this much already would probably label her an accident waiting to happen...I'm sorry. _Marie silently apologizes for her fellow humans. _Well, not all of us are like that. _she amends, thinking of a few people close to her.

As the other woman doesn't know those thoughts, she continues "And, as much as I would like to do it, it is of no use to thrash about in anger." The slightly strained voice emphasizes that Mu has to concentrate to keep her composure. "That will not bring it back, yes?" Closing the distance between Marie and herself with a few long strides, a sway in her hips and the tail that could easily be interpreted as seductive. Which Marie isn't remiss to notice. _Completely inappropriate, Castaneda!_

Standing face to face, except for the quite large difference in the women's heights, Mu takes a hand of Marie into hers. Marie is very surprised by the gentleness of the strong, hard and sharp looking talons wrapped unexpectedly lithely around her hand. It takes her a moment to realize the other woman isn't speaking yet, which has her snap her head up, meeting now static golden eyes that scrutinize her closely. _Oh..._

"May I make a request of you, Captain?" Mu says and it takes half a second for Marie, lost in amazement, to register it completely. Unable to find a simple word to say, she just nods in agreement. "Would you help me find it?" Lowering her head, she averts her eyes "As long as it may still be possible."

"Of course!" Marie agrees without needing to think, finding the other woman's eyes searching hers again, . "I mean, not only is it my job, but I want to help you." Cringing again at the awkward way she put her thoughts, she is glad to see Mu showing her a small smile. Remembering, once again, their situation – and glad for the distraction it creates – Marie urges "I think we need to get going, but...How do we get you out of here, without making a fuss down there? They checked the building if anyone needed immediate rescue, and since they found none, it would be hard to explain where you came from."

Mu's small smile grows wide, when she steps back from holding Marie's hand. Instead of a verbal answer, she spreads and flaps her wings once. "I..." Marie looks at her perplexed "You can't mean..." her eyes widening to saucers, as the other woman merely nods. "But that's...No, I mean..." Stammering her way out of her completely blank mind, unable to comprehend the reality of what Mu is suggesting, she swallows hard, asking incredulously "Seriously?"

Unconsciously, Marie had taken half a step back, shaking her head slightly the entire time. Mu bends down in the short distance between them, scooping Marie up in her arms, legs over one and the back resting on the other. With a yelp, Marie quickly wraps her arms around Mu's neck, only to become instantly aware of the closeness._ Oh crap! What the...Oh, nice. _Inadvertently, but necessarily, she takes in a deep breath, accompanied by the scent of the woman holding her. Feeling a little perverted about the act and realizing that she likes it, she flushes accordingly.

About to apologize for it, only later realizing – and again flushing deeply for it – that she didn't consider Mu wouldn't have know what she meant and she would have had to explain, Mu balances Marie right and walks over the remains of the floor toward the back of the living room that is facing the rear of the building. Taking wary note of the floor beneath the weight of the two combined giving in slightly, she hurries to look for a point to launch herself from.

Well aware of what will happen, Marie still feels the need to ask "What are you doing?", if only to break the silence between them. She can feel a shudder running through Mu when she speaks and her breath tickles the woman's neck. She wrestles down the urge to apologize yet again. _Good grief, get a grip! You're going to make a fool out of yourself..._

Looking at her, now showing a much less forced smile – compared to Marie's first arriving up here – as if she reads Marie's thoughts, Mu answers "I will need a bit more space than what is available here for a proper departure. I am not used to...passengers, so I apologize beforehand, in the case that it might be a little rough. Do not worry, though, it is not the first time that I carry someone in flight."

_Right, no worries. At all.._ A short lived mantra Marie keeps telling herself, but stops immediately when Mu finally stands on the edge of the building. There, another large part of the rear side's wall broken out lay over the edge, forming a sort of launch pad hanging over the edge, into air. "Oh you can't be serious." Tightening every hold her body has on the other woman – arms and legs – Marie clings on for the obvious next step. _Oh crap..._

* * *

><p>Note:<p>

I apologize for any upcoming delay. An opportunity to renovate several rooms in the house arose. No more than a week between chapters, I hope, though.


	34. Chapter 31

"Brace yourself." Mu gives her final warning. With a warm, but sad smile directed at Marie, she reassures "I will not let anything happen to you." Marie can feel a slight shiver running through the woman and then tightening her hold protectively, her muscles tense. Relaxing ever so slightly again when she takes a deep breath to seemingly calm herself, Mu steps up right to and with her toes over the edge.

Marie is determined not to cry out, clenching her jaw in expectation. Just as Mu bends her knees to take the jump, Marie realizes, within the jumble of thoughts and emotions, she feels no fear. _Excitement..._ her last thought, as the huge wings on the back of the other woman flare once more, creating the surface needed to trap the airflow underneath.

And finally, Mu jumps.

Or tries to, at least. The outer wall of the building, carrying their improvised launch pad, unexpectedly gives in under the stress of so little a change as a jump. Marie misses the surprised look on Mu's face since she is looking down, noticing with fast increasing worry the chunks of material crumbling away from where they just stood. And the two of them following those chunks quickly, seemingly out of control.

With no way to correct their askew departure, Mu beats her wings with huge, powerful swings, creating enough lift in her half turned position to brake the fall into a controllable descent. "That was not how I planned to impress." Mu smirks at Marie, keeping them both descending slowly. Having followed the debris on its fall, when Marie looks up again, her smile vanishes and the response she wanted to give dies in her throat.

"Look out!" she yells and Mu, looking behind herself even before Marie gets the words out, seems to have registered the loud crumbling sounds of more of the building collapsing. Both of them looking up to where they took off spot the increasing amounts of material breaking off from the apartments. Long tears split the walls quickly, as if they break in half, seemingly instantly from high up to so far down that neither of them could see the end of the cracks, were they able to focus on it.

Glass shatters above and below their position, showering them in thousands of shards. Mu turns in the air, her back toward the collapsing structure, shielding Marie. At the same time, she struggles to gain any form of forward momentum, as the shards are the least of their problems. She tries hard to get out of the way of the room-sized chunk of building that started to break off completely when they both turned around to take a look.

Closing in very quickly onto their still descending position, the now majorly disturbed airflow around her makes it impossible for Mu to accelerate enough in any direction to get out of the way completely. Shocked, Marie feels the large wings wrap around herself and hears a whispered "I am sorry." that hardly registers, just before the edge of the huge piece of building material impacts with the woman holding her tightly. Even though Mu is taking the brunt of it, Marie still feels the wind knocked out of her lungs, which doesn't register with her either, as she is entirely focused on the other woman's pained expression, from which a growling grunt escapes.

The force of the impact redirects their fall sideways, fast. After a mere second, Mu's body, twisting yet again to protect Marie, slams into one of the adjourning buildings. Using this chance, with inhuman strength, Mu digs the claws of one hand and those she obviously formed on her feet during the fall, into the wall. So very sharp, they allow her to slide down, slow down, tearing creases into the material, for a relieving moment. Stabilizing herself with her wings, it still turns into a short lived moment, as a casement frame abruptly breaks what little hold she has on the wall, sending her back into a free fall.

A curse escapes Mu, or so Marie thinks, as she doesn't recognize the language it is spoken in. On the one hand, it is lucky they are already most of the way down to street level, which Mu doesn't seem to be able to realize at the moment. On the other hand, they are still one story above the ground, the distance in which Mu twists her body once more, wraps all of herself around Marie again. Eyes closed and breathing in deeply, she waits endlessly stretching seconds for the last impact.

Though Mu manages to slow their fall significantly before free falling again, the impact after the last fall still packs quite a force. When it finally happens, Marie's eyes close on instinct, so instead of seeing what happens, but with otherwise heightened senses, she can clearly hear the unmistakable sound of cracking bones. She feels them give in underneath her, made worse by her weight pressing down as well. Regret, apology, concern, fear...thoughts and emotions race through her head, so fast she can't grasp them, but feels their presence, their truth regardless.

And their fall ends with Marie laying on top of a raggedly breathing Mu.

Mu's hold on the woman in her arms tightens, strongly, once, hurting Marie, who doesn't take note of that fact. Her eyes open again when it happens, and she is shocked by the sight of the beautiful face contorted in pain. The shock quickly turns to frantic concern when the arms and wings around her go limp, slowly sliding off of her to the ground, and the expression on the pale face vanishes, replaced by emptiness.

_Oh my goodness.._ Grunting from the pain, Marie gets up and kneels down at the right side of Mu. As she herself is covered in dust and pebbles, a mass of it quietly ripples down her clothes onto the ground. Around them, small rubble is still raining down, the air filled with dust, making it hard to breathe for the two of them. The rain that fell earlier does very little now to stop the grime from spreading everywhere, settling on everything.

To calm herself down – and out of occupational habit – Marie firmly shoves any feelings and emotions to the back of her mind – as much as she can. Though it takes a bit of effort and breathing in deeply a few times, despite the pain in her sides as she does so, she manages to get herself to focus on the situation in an analytical manner.

With that, the first thing she does is to check for obvious external injuries on Mu, knowing that the insides will inevitably have the worst damage, but there being no way for her to do anything on those. She doesn't need to feel for a pulse, as the woman's chest is still rising and falling rapidly with the ragged, but clearly functional and, from the sound of it undisturbed breathing. _No damage to the lungs? Wishful thinking?_

Luckily Marie is shutting out unrelated information, but that doesn't stop her subconscious to register and save the picture of the damp, thin shirt, torn even worse than before, that Mu wears showing a lot more than appropriate to notice.

Next she takes a close look at the neck, which would have to have taken a major strain, as Marie can only think of the head-plate being rather heavy. Gently reaching through the damp, matted mop of hair, she tries to feel for distortions of the vertebrae on the back of Mu's neck, making extremely sure not to move the head at all, she is relieved to find no bone sticking in the wrong direction. But when she removes her hands from the neck, the index fingers that felt at the base of the skull are covered in smears of blood.

_Ah sh..._ Immediately she gets out of her still damp jacket, wanting to lift the head onto it. She stops in her movement when she realizes that is the wrong course of action. _There might still be some damage lower down. I shouldn't- _her thoughts get interrupted when Mu's still form stirs. Groaning, growling deeply, the woman's eyes open, almost immediately focusing and finding Marie's. "You are alright...promised." Mu whispers, part question, part statement. Raising her left arm over her torso, she tries to reach for Marie, who takes the hand in hers, shushing the injured woman.

"You shouldn't move." Marie urges. "You're bleeding from the back of your head." Taking one hand off her hold of the naturally cold one of Mu, she gently lays it on the head-plate, holding the woman down with little effort, as she is not resisting or trying to get up. Still with the other hand in hers, Marie holds up three fingers in front of Mu's eyes, asking her how many she's showing. The correct answer given, she tries with two random fingers and her thumb, receiving another, correct number on asking again. She lets herself feel the relief that washes over her, but she is still very concerned about the blood and internal damage, since has no idea what impact such a fall has on Mu's physiology.

When Mu squeezes the hand that holds hers, Marie turns her head to look at the woman, having visually examined the rest of the body before then. Though focused on the other woman's eyes, expecting her to speak, Marie doesn't miss that Mu moves her legs. "What are you doing? I told you to stay still." But, with a warm smile from Mu, her order gets ignored and, slowly but surely, Mu makes it obvious that she is capable of moving.

"It is alright. I have no impairment." Though saying so, Mu's breathing is still strained. "I might have received injuries, but I am well capable of moving." Already in a half seated position, unconsciously still holding on to Marie's hand, she looks up to where their fall began. "As you said, we will need to make ourselves scarce." She looks at their joined hands, smiling "I cannot transform back." and takes both to press lightly against her lower ribcage. "As it seems, I have suffered broken ribs and the process rearranges my intestines slightly, to accommodate for the musculature to move these." she points to her back.

The meaning of Mu's comment isn't lost on Marie and she is immediately starting to plan their unnoticed escape. _Really, __do__ I need to think of it like that? Nobody knows she's here..._ She pushes aside that thought, looking down the alleyway behind them, past the pile of rubble, when she hears shouting and more sirens from both police vehicles and emergency response. The urgency of their situation becomes more and more apparent. She turns back to face the other woman, wanting to convey their need to hurry.

Right then, Mu moves her wings, slowly, to test for herself if they are damaged, probing for pain in their movement. To her relief, they feel and look to be in perfect order, but her face is turned away form Marie as she looks at them, so when she hears a sharp intake of breath, she wants to turn around. Before she can look at the woman, she feels the hand leave hers to join with the other on the back of her head, holding it in place.

"Don't move. For real, this time." Marie's comment makes Mu smirk, which, though Marie can't see, contorts to a slightly pained expression, when the fingers very gently probe the wound on the back of her head. Mu keeps quiet, not even breathing differently, because she doesn't want to worry Marie. "Did you feel dizzy getting up? Are you feeling sick?" With a negative answer to both, Marie dares to hope the damage is no more than what it appears to be.

"Looks like it's only a laceration." she mumbles. "I doubt I can stop you from going through with what you were planning to do, so I might as well help." Squatting, she tries to get a hold on the suddenly very strange form of Mu's upper body, trying to support her getting up. "Just tell me, immediately, when you feel like throwing up or even just slightly dizzy."

"Appreciated. And I will." Mu steadies herself against Marie as much as her state allows and together they manage to stand up entirely, though Mu bends over forward slightly, to put less stress on her ribs. "That worked well." Taking as deep a breath as she can, she looks at Marie "What do you have in mind now?"


	35. Chapter 32

Despite everything, Marie already managed to come up with a plan. "I need to go up front, since I got let in by a colleague. If I don't go see him, there'll be loads of other problems, never mind that I really don't want to have them worry." Supporting herself on Marie's shoulder, Mu quietly allows the other woman to dictate their path, knowing that Marie will elaborate further. They are making their way along the alleyway behind the adjourning building, away from the scene of their accident, so that they don't run into Marie's colleagues.

Having passed the building, they turn into the next alley, which will take them back to the main street. Already Mu can guess where Marie is taking her, as she spots the Flyer. "I'll call in a friend...and I'll ask him to take you to my place. You should be safe there, for now." _Though I have no idea how to help and treat your injuries there. But then, a hospital is out of the question..._ Marie thinks, glancing at the wing that is half wrapped around her. _Very much so._ Surprised by the lack of comment from Mu when Marie suggests to let a stranger know about her, she looks at the other woman "You have no problem with that?"

"I already asked if I may put my faith in you, did I not?" Mu smiles warmly, her face so close to Marie's that it makes the smaller woman flush. Now that she has a little time to think about it, Marie notices that the earlier blow to her realization of attraction, when Mu announced her age, doesn't seem to have had much impact.

_I suppose, seeing her looking like she does, then and now, it just can't really settle in, can it? How is someone supposed to really understand such a claim? _ "I trust you" Mu adds. _And things like that don't help either... _she grins sheepishly, looking away from Mu, as the flush to her face is renewing. "to do what is necessary, without compromising your morals or my privacy."

"Yes, well, I can't promise anything, since this is...you know, but I trust my people. And, more importantly, them as my friends." Feeling like babbling, she shakes her head. "Anyway, once he's here, as I said, I'll ask him to bring you to my apartment. You rest there, I will likely be busy for a short while, probably even at the district station. When I'm back, we'll see how we go from there." She stops herself from adding one of the training inculcated and almost naturally following platitudes, which she luckily rarely has to use these days.

"Very well." Mu agrees easily, though increasingly strained, the injuries quickly taking their toll. "I see no possibility to to help you, though. I would not even know where you could start to look." They arrive at the Flyer, on which Mu leans when Marie lets go of her, to enable her to open its door. First, though, they both take a look at the loud bustle of Marie's colleagues. _Damn, I need to go._ "I am sorry that this happened." Mu points at the scene.

"It's not like it's your fault." Marie huffs, both hands dug into her pants' pockets, unsure what else to do with them, lest she goes and hugs Mu. "Anyway, let's get you out of here. I think I should hurry. Sorry." So said, though she doesn't know what she apologizes for, since the other woman seems to understand perfectly, Marie enters the Flyer and, using the vehicle's internal communication device, contacts James.

As it is now well past midnight, the only thing she receives on the other end of the establishing connection is a muffled ruffling of what must be sheets and someone digging themselves out of those. Marie assumes the unintelligible mumble and deep, still almost sleeping voice comes from James' try at finding out who calls. "James?" she asks to confirm and allows her urgency to show in her voice "It's me, Marie. I need you to wake up quick."

After a moment more shuffling, the voice that answers is a lot clearer and actually coherent, as James forces himself at hearing Marie's concerned voice. "Yeah, alright, I'm awake." Coughing and audibly taking a deep breath, he tries to clear his mind completely. "Are you alright? Did something happen? You sound like you have a problem." he points out that he caught on to that.

"All of the above, I'd say." Marie sighs. "I'm fine, yeah. Look, I have little time to explain. I need you to trust me and just come to this position and...transport someone to my apartment."

"That sounds easy enough. What's the catch?" he says warily and Marie is grateful that he is not wasting time by asking for more information. And she expected the question. _He may trust me, but no one would fly blind on a request like this._

"Well..that's the 'no time to explain' thing." Glancing over to Mu, who she is sure is listening in on the conversation, she spots a small smirk. _Funny. Real funny._ Marie sends her a sharp look. "You're probably going to freak out. But I tell you now and I hope you trust me enough as a friend, it is all right. I will explain...if she doesn't already. Just think of it as a costume."

She hears a muffled "Costume? What is wrong with you? Are you drunk?" when she turns toward the activities near the building, where a large van has just arrived. "I need to go. I'll send you my position to your comm. Please, just...hurry." Her eyes drift to the increasingly tired looking woman leaning on the Flyer. Marie thoroughly pushes away the desire to comfort Mu, be it verbally, or, to her dismay still, physically.

A short moment of silence stretches between Marie and James. "Well, fine." he yawns again. "Whatever it is I am going to encounter there, I expect to be properly compensated for marching out in the middle of a weekend's night." He falls quiet for a moment, his voice quiet and hushed when he speaks again "Then again, never mind me. My wife's gonna hate this even more, since we have plans tomorrow. Make her scowl at you, instead of me and we're even."

With no time to react to the jab anymore, she merely thanks him and disconnects. "I will leave you in his care, then. I'm sorry, I suppose, since I compromise your secret." She looks at Mu, still awed, when the woman uses her wings to wrap them like a coat around herself. "You...you should lie down inside." Pointing at the Flyer, Marie wants to reach for Mu, to help her inside the vehicle, but the woman gently catches her arm midway, shaking her head lightly.

Marie gets her meaning, nods in silent answer and takes a step back, already starting to walk away, "Okay, if you're sure. Anyway, I'll see you later." but turns around to the silent woman once more. "He's a good guy, you know. He'll be able to cope seeing you. And you, too, can trust him."

"I believe you." The first words from Mu since a while, slightly slurred, obviously tired, clearly show that the woman is near her reserves' end, but she still smiles encouragingly. "Now, hurry, before you miss the opportunity." Seeing the obvious signs of strain makes Marie hesitate for a moment longer. Her desire to touch, caress and comfort Mu rises still, but she forces herself to focus on the matters at hand and with a murmured "Damn it..." she makes her way over to her colleagues.

Following the retreat of Marie for a moment, Mu straightens herself upright with some effort, refusing to hold herself on the Flyer. With few steps, she manages to climb inside and to make herself comfortable in the passenger seat of the vehicle. Finally alone, she reclines the seat to lay back and finally allows herself to wince, but also to stop hiding that she is in more pain than she let on.

_Luckily the situation was chaotic enough that I managed to keep it from her. No need to worry her too much. This will heal quickly enough. _Sighing deeply – which ends in a coughing fit that has her hold her chest in pain for a moment, until she manages to calm down again – she tries to relax herself enough to take a short nap until James arrives. _I am curious as to what kind of person she works with and considers a friend close enough to share this with._ Almost immediately after closing her eyes, she falls asleep.

–

Marie jogs over to where she first spotted Eric, not really expecting to find him in the same place, since she could already see from the Flyer that all of the colleagues are running about the place in front of the building, looking to clear up the mess that its collapse air and a very light drizzle contained the amount of dust that could have spread around the neighborhood, but, especially since it had stopped raining entirely now, every step of the many policemen and women now disperses the settled dirt.

Reaching the holographic line, still intact, but flickering slightly because of the many particles passing through it, Marie steps through it and proceeds to search the area for Eric. _He'll have informed the others. This might get complicated..._ She notices that there are not only more police vehicles around, but also a larger truck from and into which a group of people in suits and working gear. When she spots Eric im standing by a pile of rubble near the building's entrance, she calls out for him. He abruptly ends his conversation with one of those workers, whom Marie at first couldn't see from her position, looking over to her with clear surprise in his expression.

"Marie!" He starts to run over to her, quickly correcting himself addressing her "I mean, Captain. Where the heck were you? Everyone already started looking for you." Before Marie can answer, Eric takes out his communication device from his belt, relaying the information that the Captain is now with him to his colleagues. Once finished, he tells her "Most of them noticed you go in, the rest learned of it quickly." and scrutinizes her, obviously looking for injuries. "We were already looking for you, since you didn't say where exactly you were heading in there. Doesn't look like you're hurt, so what happened?"

"First off, I'm sorry to have caused worry." Marie apologizes sheepishly. Being reassured that Eric is, first and foremost, glad that she's okay, she elaborates a little, hiding the soreness from her fall as best she can. _I hope he sees it as exhaustion from getting down the stairs. _"I've been lucky enough to already be half way down, when the thing caved in. I went through the main staircase and it suddenly became more than a little shaky, like it was when I went up. I was just low enough to afford to jump out a back window that was, also luckily, open. From there, I ran. You know, just in case the whole building collapsed. "

"Seems like you made the right choice, seeing how you're unscathed." With Marie leading the way, they walk over to the barrier, stopping close to a police vehicle. "So, are you going to tell me what you were doing in there? I did hear about your investigation into that business woman that lives...lived up there. I hope you didn't need to look for something and now it's busted." he laughs, but show in his expression that he is well aware that it could have been important.

"No. I just had to look, before anything was damaged, but no, it wasn't there anymore." Marie isn't entirely successful in hiding the moment of sadness that washes over her, but Eric seems to decide not to inquire further. "Anyhow, I'll better report to the Commander, seeing how the woman, who is under my investigation, just lost her home to an explosion." she sighs. "He's been told already, yes? Meaning he'll be up."

"Yeah, since an event of this magnitude is rather rare, our Commander told yours, because he knew about your investigation." He looks at Marie with curiosity clear in his eyes "Is there anything we should look out for when they're starting to take the rubble apart and away?"

"Eggshells..." Marie mumbles to herself.

"Excuse me?" Eric didn't understand the word entirely, but he can't believe what Marie appears to have said.

"Never mind." She smiles at him, turning and pointing to the police car. "Mind if I take one of these to the headquarters? The Flyer I came with isn't mine, so I don't want to take it to the station"

"Sure, you can take it. The two officers will ride back with someone else, no problem. Or should they take the Flyer to...wherever?" Eric offers.

"No, it's alright. It's taken care of." She thanks him, seeks out the driver of the vehicle and asks for a the pass code to use it. Since they know her and it isn't unusual for other colleagues to switch cars between them, should someone require a faster transport than a tube, they don't even ask questions, for which she is rather grateful at the moment. Sitting behind the wheel, she takes a moment to calm herself down again. The fact that she just fell down an over twenty story tall building in the arms of a dragon lady seems to be catching up with her, now that she is alone to think about it. _Well, it'll still be a while until I get to go home, I think. This will be one long night...But she'll be fine now, right?_


	36. Chapter 33

His years of getting up on call at any time of the day or night are long over, so it takes James a bit longer than he liked to get ready to depart. Grateful that his wife, Annette, managed to get back to sleep, after he explained to her that Marie – a good friend of Annette, too – is in some sort of a pinch and asked for his assistance. Donning warm clothes and a thick jacket, he exits his home as silently as possible.

Now in the transport tube toward the destination given to him by Marie, he tries to shake off the last of his tiredness by ingesting a large amount of coffee from his thermo-mug. Unfortunately, thanks to his habit of drinking a lot of the real thing at work, his wife asked him to reduce his intake of caffeine, so his mind needs to do all the convincing that a decaffeinated one does the trick just as well.

Looking at the time, James gets a little worried that he might have taken too long, but, since Marie didn't urge him to hurry, he assumes that his package to transport will be stashed in the Flyer, safe and sound. _Though..costume, she said. She was with that CEO, so is it her? In a costume? Why are they suddenly here in City in the first place? A little more information couldn't have hurt, Marie. How about elaborating on what problem you have? Yes, yes, you had no time...no time to ease your friend's worry._ With a sigh, he gets up from his seat, as the tube arrived at its destination. During the night, the lack of traffic allows that the cabins in the tube could be instructed to stop at a certain station, without any stopover, so James is grateful that he could at least save a little bit of time like that.

Exiting into the still slightly damp night, he walks along the brightly illuminated sidewalk. At this time of the day, the streets are completely empty. Neither is it the time for anyone to get up to a shift at work, nor for those who were at the Entertainment District to return home, if they were still able to find it. The first occasional persons, usually sleeping in a shaded corner of a building, will turn up in about two hours time, or so James remembers from his days on the streets. _It's been a while. But I doubt that changed._

When he rounds the corner onto the street where Marie gave him as his destination, he immediately spots police, rescue and construction vehicles, parked in a neat half-circle around one of the residential buildings. From his position, he can only tell that this specific building appears to be quite a bit shorter than the others. Getting closer, he can finally tell that a large part of it collapsed and that the machinery going about is already clearing the debris away.

Even closer, he can see three people in suits standing around a large workstation and when one of them points up the building, James line of sight follows and finds four small drones circling the structure. _They're analyzing the integrity of the structure, even though it already fell apart? What more proof do they need that the thing is unstable? _Being a bit slow on the uptake since he's still tired – the coffee, of course, didn't work – only now it occurs to him now that Marie was here. _Oh geez.._ he huffs. _What did you get yourself into here, Castaneda?_

Now rather worried, even though Marie assured him that she is fine, seeing how this is the building in which Lunastra has her apartment – a fact he realized immediately when Marie told him this adress, but didn't comment on – his mind begins to imagine scenarios that led to this outcome, none of which he likes. _Don't be getting ahead of yourself, man. You know she's well enough to call and go..somewhere._ Still, he can't stop his mind from providing many unpleasant pictures, so he hurries his step.

He finds it prudent to inform himself of the situation at the scene where the cleanup appears to be finished soon, so he squeezes through the rows of onlookers, up to one of the officers. The man is surprised to see James here, mentioning that a short while ago Marie took a police car, heading to brief her Commander. _So she's well enough to drive, too. Good._ After listening to a short report of the situation, James thanks the officer and leaves without commenting on the reason for his presence. The officer didn't ask, otherwise he would have told him, but James is somewhat grateful for the fact.

Only after he steps out of the bright spot created by the floodlights illuminating the building, he notices that the entire block is without lighting. Once his eyes got used to the darker surroundings, he easily spots the single vehicle, the Flyer, out on the streets around. _That's got to be the one, then. _The closer he gets, the more impressed he is by the sleek, seemingly state of the art vehicle. Standing right next to it, he is, at first, surprised to find out that it is a model that doesn't exist on the open market yet, but rumors had spread the last month or so about it coming soon. _The connections of the CEO of a multi-planet conglomerate, huh? Or is the manufacturer part of her company?_

Getting slightly excited to be able to pilot the thing, he opens the hatch to get inside. The high quality exterior is easily surpassed by the luxurious appearance of the interior, where the finest synthetic leather decently covers most of the surfaces. James expects to find a person in need of help, so, first, his awed look roams over the rear compartment of the Flyer, which features plenty of room to comfortably lay down a person. Finding no one, he steps further into the vehicle, turning to the cockpit.

Though he can clearly see that something, or rather someone, is sitting in the co-pilot seat, the first thing he notices is protruding from between the backrest and seat. An ever so slightly twitching, thinning, long and leathery object, hanging down to the floor. The word _tail_ comes to his mind, considering the rest of the form in the seat, but he doesn't yet make the connection to Marie's comment about a costume, as his surprise and growing fascination seemingly override that impulse. _What __**is **__that? _He thinks about the complete form, half visible from his position. Getting even closer, the form distinguishes as, indeed, a person, but apparently wrapped in a strange, blueish blanket, lighter in color, but matching material of the thing hanging to the floor.

A filament of lines, like blood vessels, covering the thin material, and rough, thick edges forming a sort of frame. An equally colored ridge looks out over the top of the seat and hair with a slightly greener hue flows over the side of both the person and their chair. _Costume... _Just when James finally makes the connection, the person stirs, unfolds their "blanket" in artificiality disproving organic movements and lifts their head, complete with the sturdy ridge, that turns out much larger than it looked from where he stands. He immediately spots unmistakable rusty red of dried blood, gluing a few thick strands together beneath the top of the ridge, confirming his assumption that it is a living being, as well as raising worry.

Obviously strained, the person manages to stands up fully and James' head rises with hers. _It's Lunastra... _Clearly a woman and also one whose features James immediately recognizes from investigating her, though they are slightly obscured in the strange appearance she is wearing now. _**This **__is Lunastra? _His mind supplies unhelpful _Looked a bit different in the pictures..._ Standing face to face with each other, James realizes he actually has to look up to meet striking gold eyes that scrutinize him without revealing a hint of what the woman might be thinking.

"Good morning." Lunastra greets, her voice rough with tiredness and, James simply assumes, by nature. Askew clothing, covering enough for decency, and the fact that those definitely non-human extremities are moving, seemingly by Lunastra's will, have James at a loss for words and thoughts. "You must be James, Marie's colleague?" she cocks her head slightly and James could swear he sees a small smile, maybe even a smirk on the full lips.

"Yeah. Right, yes, I am." shaking himself out of his daze, clearing his throat, he looks over the woman in front of him again and remembers the way Marie phrased her warning. "Think of it as a costume, she said..." he mumbles, unawares loud enough for even a normal person to hear it. "So it isn't one?"

"That is correct." Lunastra agrees, moving the wings to prove it.

"Right." He says, disbelieving, but takes two steps closer. "Of course...Alright, what...are you then?" despite his disbelief clearly audible, he makes the effort to understand, since Marie seemed to be fine with this person. _And I bet she didn't react much different. Then again, her spacing out in the office... _He clears his throat again "Pardon my..directness."

"It is fine." this time she smiles genuinely, though the stress on her body clearly shows, slightly even in her expression. "You do deserve an explanation, coming here on such short notice and help someone you do not know, without knowing why." Admirably graceful, but with a quiet groan, she sits back down, half turned so she still faces James. "Perhaps it would be best when I explain on the way? I assume you will want to return home quickly."

"Right. As if I'm going to be able to sleep again tonight." he mumbles, staring at Lunastra "Or any time soon." _Geez, Marie. This is..._ "Alright." he agrees, but still hesitates to get himself to the pilot seat. "May I?" he asks, pointing to it. Lunastra nods, still smiling, and turns to sit more comfortably. James takes a deep breath – "Oh-kay.." – and gets into the pilot seat, setting up the Flyer for departure.


	37. Chapter 34

An inconspicuous white vehicle drives into a parking lot near the space port on the outskirts of the Entertainment District – about an hour of mannered driving away from the event in the Residential District that is now slowly making its way into the news network – parking neatly between two white lines. For a moment, there is no further movement, but then a half dozen persons exit out of the back of the transporter, while two more step out from the front doors. The majority of the rather small parking lot is occupied by Flyers and ground vehicles, but, perhaps because of the time of day, without a soul around who could notice the new arrival.

The brightly lit lot reveals all the persons are dressed in casual clothing, as if they gathered a group to travel on vacation. Added to that, they carry fitting luggage, except for one rather large, almost square suitcase. The many ragged, serious and unamused expressions on their faces belie the appearance of tourists, as does the guarded behavior when they start to walk in the direction of the terminal.

Without comment, all but three of them disperse between the half dozen rows of parking spaces, so that, when they exit the end of the lot, it looks almost natural how they are heading in different directions, most of them away from the terminal's entrance. Two of the men, one of them carrying the larger package seemingly without effort, and the woman enter the terminal, while the rest of their group already departs, either by transport tube or taxi.

Having stayed quiet on their way here, mostly because of their current topic's presence, between the three now inside of the seemingly empty terminal, they discuss the necessity and consequences of the actions of their new addition. They haven't come to a conclusion yet, especially how it affects their usual, now missing teammate, but their discussion dies instantly, when they spot a small group of people, obviously waiting for someone.

"Ah, good, it's her." one of the trio, the one the others simply called Boss earlier, mentions, when he notices that among those waiting is the woman who hired them as an intermediary to her boss. The tall brunette, looking sleek in her black business suit, is surrounded by three, basically identical hulks, dressed in almost bursting black suits. When the three walk up to their waiting employer, they are surprised to find the three bodyguards – or so they guess – really are identical. Right down to what appears to be extremely unhealthy and without doubt artificially grown body structure.

Asking himself what they might be for, if the only people around all know each other, the Boss takes comfort in the knowledge that such slabs of muscle are much too slow to do damage to anyone on his team. He assumes that, if not the slabs themselves, at least the woman would know this, too, but that leaves him still wondering whom they might have expected. _Or might still expect._

"I see you have it." Much to his dismay, she skips pleasantries, but, he thinks, no one would expect a mercenary to appreciate such things anyway. _No matter. It's the same every time. Just business they'll want to have done quickly. _With an inward sigh and no response as the stated fact is obvious, he holds out the large package toward the woman, with one arm.

Confused at the offer, because she expected the package to be heavy at that size, she shows her irritation quite openly. "Are you trying to say you don't have it?" she grabs the package angrily. He is surprised that the woman specifies an "it", implying that she knew what they would find and didn't tell them. Without comment to that, he responds "It's in there." while the woman has already opened the bag around the square box, containing the object they took from the apartment.

"How come it's so light?" the woman mumbles. The Boss, until now not really interested in what it is or what the woman wants with the thing they retrieved, stares at the muscle slabs, fascinated that they are absolutely unmoving, not even blinking. _Are they even alive? _He resists the urge to go up to one and simply shove him slightly. But, from this close, their appearance makes him assume they are the results of an experiment. One which he has that the woman in front of him, or a team she manages, are performing. _Maybe I should get interested in what they are doing with that thing. _He glances down at the still mumbling woman, currently carefully extracting the delivered item from the lightweight transport strongbox.

He gets a slightly bad feeling and a notion of what the slabs could want here. He is certain that the woman wouldn't need protection, or at least not this creepy kind. _But_, he thinks, _it would make sense to have these seemingly mindless drones to, for example, apprehend us. I heard their experiment is a continuation of a failed version of it a long while ago. Would make sense that they want to take less chances now. And no one's going to miss some mercenaries._

For a mere moment, he tenses up, which causes the first sign of them being alive from the bodyguards. Their eyes, all three sets of them at the same instant, eerily focus on him. A slight change of his stance, his crossed arms loosening and hanging at his side, is all the signal his colleagues need to recognize the underlying order of staying more alert. Thankfully, the other two don't move, which keeps the focus of the slabs on him. _Good. Let them think I flinched at their look._

But now he has to worry about his three teammates that didn't come here with them. _The drivers didn't seem like anything special. But then, what can these people do with their research? _Slightly sidetracking, his mind provides another question he would like to remember, once he's out of here. _It makes you wonder why they would need a bunch of hired mercenaries, which, however small, always leaves a trail. Missing money in some place, a strange schedule in another...Well, it's all a matter of who this trail leads to. Why not use their own people?_

Focusing back on his current situation, he looks back to the woman, who is just standing back up with the object unwrapped, staring at it in confusion. "It looks like solid stone, but it weighs almost nothing." Absentmindedly, but handling the egg shaped object with reverent caution, she looks at her hands, adding "And it's warm. Warmer than body temperature."

Before she could go on to start analyzing the thing in more detail right then and there, the Boss, getting slightly impatient since waiting for something to happen isn't his forte, asks "You have what you wanted. Do you need anything more from us?" Half expecting her to simply, immediately order the slabs to grab him and his colleagues, he prepares himself, in case he needs to pre-empt that, but the woman obviously snaps back to focus, regarding him as if she lost track of what she was doing.

"Right." she clears her throat. "No, I don't think we will need your services again. Well, for now, at least." Bending down to put the object back into the box, she looks back to the hulks and mumbles "I guess I wouldn't have needed to take those with me either and risking someone spotting them in public." Standing back up straight, she regards the Boss as if she spoke to him and shrugs "Oh well, too late."

_So no silencing us. _He relaxes a bit, but still keeps his guard up, just in case. Uncharacteristically curious, he decides to ask his employer a question unrelated to his work. "So what is it with those three? They don't look very healthy." trying for a little humor to ease the question in, assuming that, like any employer, they don't like questions from people like him. From what he could gather about the woman, even before they accepted the job, he is sure this one isn't at all familiar with that kind of connections.

"Them?" Simply pointing backwards, without looking at them, she huffs. "Yeah, I suppose they raise curiosity, don't they." Thinking for a moment, she asks "I have been told your people are the best when it comes to these things, so I assume you have educated yourselves on whom you're working with, right?" The Boss nods and thinks to himself _If you heard that, why did you force a new member into it, who was going as far as he did, without warning us? Goes to show how little they know about mercenaries, I'd say. _

Unaware of the inner comment from him, the woman elaborates "They're a result of a failed experiment, a long time ago, but they make good mules." Bumping her fist into the chest of one of the three, she huffs again "Too thick, body and mind, to do much of anything else. About their health..well, you needn't worry. There isn't anything left of their former selves, so they feel nothing." the woman waves them off.

The Boss feels disgust rising in his stomach. Now more than ever, he intends to get out of here as quick as possible, hoping, even with his business practices, to never have anything to do with that sort again. _Better not ask or think about where the original bodies come from, I suppose._ But then he has an idea. Going on a limb, he tries, once more with a carefully measured humorous note in his voice "And here I thought you'd use them to silence us." leaving an equally measured, small smile on his face.

The woman, halting in her movement to adjust the package she just lifted up, scrutinizes him, one thin eyebrow raised high. A smirk appears and she laughs out loud. Suddenly turning serious again, she regards him for another moment. "I know why you're asking, but why in such a roundabout way?" When he keeps silent, though smiling and gesturing _what can you do, _she lets out another small laugh.

"Anyway. No, we don't want to get rid of you. You did good work. And to answer your real question, your buddy is fine. We switched him with the little pyromaniac, because, as you might agree now, that guy isn't appropriate for a much more delicate assignment." She waits another moment, wanting to see if the Boss tries to inquire further. Pleased that he doesn't, she still makes it a point "I am not going to elaborate." Shrugging once more, she relents "Though he may choose to do so later, which we didn't dissuade him from."

Still smiling, he nods and turns to leave. His two colleagues exchange a strange look, but then shrug and just follow without comment.


	38. Chapter 35

Since having taken the pilot seat, James hasn't been able to stop himself from glancing over to the passenger he is giving a lift. _Who can blame me. Costume, she said...not even trying hard to be blissfully stupid could make anyone believe that is a costume._ He glances over again, letting his eyes roam once more over what his brain doesn't want to fully acknowledge. The woman –_Lunastra_ he corrects himself – had barely managed to inform him about what happened and what she is, when she simply fell asleep.

Seeing the bloody back of her head and assuming much worse injuries from the story she told him, he is amazed that she managed to stay awake as long as she did. _Strong individual, that. But everything about her looks strong...like this. _Much of the information about her Marie and him gathered over the past few days made it easier for him to converse with the woman on this flight, but what his eyes show him he's conversing with threw him for a loop several times. Lunastra, though, simply smiled, genuinely, and calmly explained again.

After the third time of being distracted and having Lunastra start over, he forced himself to focus more on the way they were going, so they wouldn't have to be sitting in the Flyer for hours, even after they arrived, just so he can get one crumb of information after another registering in his mind. Now that she is asleep, he takes his time to process it all, flying their vehicle very slowly so he can grant her a little rest she obviously needs, before he has to wake her up again, to get her into Marie's apartment.

The scale of the revelation isn't lost on him anymore as much as it was when they set off, but she still didn't tell him why she revealed herself to Marie – and now to him – in the first place. _That's got to wait until Marie's back, I suppose. _Glancing over to Lunastra once more, he surmises _She'll probably be falling asleep again as soon as she gets inside._

Which makes him realize a problem they will be facing in mere minutes, since they have almost reached their destination. _Oh man...how do I get her inside unnoticed? It's time that there will be people about. _So when he sets the Flyer down in an alleyway beside the building with Marie's apartment, as gently as he can and apparently succeeding in that, since Lunastra seemingly doesn't even stir in her sleep, he rummages around the cargo hatches inside the vehicle, trying to find anything he can use.

_Then again..._ he stops his search, looking over to her. _That could work. Let's see how well she wakes up. _He returns to the front of the Flyer, trying to ignore the tail that's still hanging from the seat to the floor, but seeing how he will face the woman directly now, he gives up that attempt. With a sigh, he leans over the passenger seat, looking down on the, he has to admit to himself, beautiful face, slightly distorted in discomfort.

–

Marie just spent the last hour informing her superior about what happened and being chewed out by him for not being careful enough. Not being able to tell him directly about the entire circumstances just made him angrier, but she preferred that over being sent to a mental institute. When she came to the description of the building's collapse, he made short work of her and sent her to a Health Center, to be poked and prodded. Though she tried to argue that wasn't necessary, her swaying under the finally manifesting strain from the entire ordeal didn't help her persuasiveness.

_Get sent to the doctors twice in one week...I should have protested more. _Though she would have liked to, she has to admit that the events did weaken her considerably, especially when she is now nearly falling asleep, laying on the examination bed._ I can't even imagine what she must endure now. _Her thoughts drift to Mu, who has blocked her from injury for most of the fall. The residual feeling of bones snapping under her still make her cringe. She still sees the complex creature laying beneath her, barely seeming alive.

Though Mu said that bringing her to a Health Center wasn't possible, Marie now wishes she had ignored that and just taken her to one. At the same time, she is well aware how that wouldn't have worked out at all. The thoughts how that might have played out lead her mind back to the moment she spotted Mu in her apartment, glistening rainy wet in the eery rest of light that surrounded her. It sends as much of jolt through her, as their first time meeting did many times before.

Now she is laying on the cold, hard examination bed, inside a dreary white cubicle, with a consistent, monotonous murmur intruding from above and beyond the walls around her, melting into a strangely soothing, unintelligible hum at the back of her mind. And she finds that, since leaving Mu's home, even with the revelation of the woman's circumstances, she can't deny to herself that the feeling of admiration is trying to work its way deeper into her heart. Not even when she though about the implications – if not the reality of it – of the woman's age, according to herself. _How is one supposed to grasp that?_ she still asks herself.

She vehemently shakes those thoughts away, focusing on the images of the woman after the fall. Straining to keep up as normal an appearance as possible, but Marie saw through it easily. _Well, at least she seemed confident that she won't suffer. Or, again, she's a real good actress. _She forces herself to ignore where that same thought lead the last time. But she can't help feeling appreciative that it lead to her getting to know Mu this much more. _Even if I still have no idea how to deal with all this. _

She gets distracted by a nurse that enters the examination room. "Alright." the tall woman says, placing the clipboard she carries in on a desk beside the entrance. "Due to your previous injury you will feel a little off for about a day. The lingering side effects of a stun shot, even though you might not have felt anything of it anymore, were amplified again by your body's reaction to the fall you took." The nurse turns away from Marie and types a command into the medical dispenser on the wall next to the desk.

Marie immediately gets a foreboding feeling, not at all liking what is likely to happen next. Apparently getting what she needs, the nurse turns around again and takes off the cap on the small injector she received from the dispenser and Marie tenses up. _Thought so._ "Oh, well, there's no need for that, is there?" she tries. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all. I have no pain, not even bruises, just a bit tired because of that shot, you know."

Already trying to just get up and leave, the nurse simply steps closer without a word and pins the Captain between the half sitting woman and herself, preventing her from getting off the bed. Marie is still squirming to get away, but she forgot that she had rolled up her sweater's arms at the beginning of the examination. Completely unperturbed, the nurse holds the injector to the freed upper arm and, before Marie realizes her mistake, the procedure is done with a small plop from the device.

"There." The burly woman says, paying no mind to Marie's short staccato of half finished curses. "Wasn't much so medicine, only a lot of vitamins and some other mineral nutrients, a carrier to make it work quick and that's about it." Having thrown away the injector, the nurse turns back to Marie, raising an eyebrow "Or are you going to tell me that it's fine for you to fall off a building, but not to receive a small prick?"

Subdued, and feeling quite silly, Marie mumbles a few incoherent murmurs, rubbing the spot on her arm that got stabbed. "That's two very different things, you know.." Finally looking up, she gets down from the bed "That'll be all, right? I can go now?" and tests her legs' stability, pleased that the feeling of weakness is gone and they carry her as intended.

"Yes, the doctor allows you to **go home**." The nurse makes her point, intensely, bodily. Looking at the pointing finger, Marie grins slightly crooked, rather uncomfortably. Reaching into her uniform's pocket, the nurse produces set of three more injectors, holding them out in her hand toward Marie. "Take these, one per day, starting tomorrow." Marie hesitates to take them, so the nurse lightly shoves them almost into her, making Marie almost stumble and recognize that she isn't as fully functional as she hoped. _Geez! Could've just said so. _"These are a little different from the other shot, but the Doctor wants you to start on them tomorrow, instead of today."

"Right. But I really need to go now." Despite that she simply doesn't like hospitals, much less examinations on herself, the driving force behind her not so sudden urge to go home is the woman she left behind. She trusts James implicitly, but she is well aware of why she wants to rush home. _You really need to be careful that this doesn't get out of hand. Keep it to worrying over her being injured and no more. _she chastises herself.

Back at the woman's home, Marie had realized the seriousness of what Mu told her about herself, though of course it took the physical change to convince her completely. Despite that – or maybe because of it – and even with the initial shock, she catches her thoughts returning to the other woman in a decidedly unprofessional manner. _You could try to make yourself believe that it's because of the nature of hers. _And she had tried just that for a short while. But she can always feel her fascination is accompanied by physical attraction.

It doesn't help that she gets teased every now and then and even worse, she finds herself enjoying it. However, since she is now trusted with such unbelievable knowledge about the woman and her family, she finds her mind convincing herself that it is not a bad thing to enjoy and even look forward to be with the woman. _Right. Just need to separate it from my duty. _A sad huff of a laugh escapes her.

Even though she wants to reign in those thoughts, she finds it increasingly difficult. Especially now that, after thanking the nurse – who smirked at that, but took it as a good sign of proper upbringing – and signing herself out at the information desk on the ground floor, she is almost at her own home's stop of the transport tube. The promise of finally getting some comfortable break is in the background of worry over Mu, as well as the anticipation to meet her again. _Get a grip. _she tells herself, unsuccessfully, before stepping out of the transport cabin.


	39. Chapter 36

"This was a bad idea." James announces in a strained whisper.

With her left arm around his shoulder, James supports the tall woman leaning heavily onto him. "On the contrary." Looking slightly down at him, Lunastra approves "I would say the idea was rather good, for what little time you had to come up with something." Her grin vanishes and she lets her features scrunch up in apparent agony, while she holds her right hand to her forehead, groaning quietly. She adjusts herself as well, leaning a little less on him, thinking that the reason he complained.

"Thanks." he confirms her thought. The two of them just got out of the Flyer and are now heading for the building with Marie's apartment. Lunastra leaning on James, acting, as much as she knows how, like a drunk that needs assistance to get back home. _A drunk from the Entertainment District, coming back from some show, where they were wearing costumes. Brilliant idea... _James himself now groans, which makes the woman next to him smirk, though he can't see.

He landed the Flyer on a parking spot on the street, but he only got one at the end of the line for this house. So, on their way toward the entrance, he worries briefly that this ruse not working, since it would be likely for the inhabitants of the building to know each other and thus easily spot that this woman doesn't belong, but in that case, he will just say that this is a friend of Marie's. _That should suffice. _Luckily they don't meet anyone on the street itself.

With that reassurance, they enter the building, while Lunastra adds a little more sway and general problem with gravity to her movements, making it uncomfortable for both, but at least more believable. _Shouldn't it feel good for a woman to sway at your side?_ he thinks, as he hoists her up a bit. In his peripheral vision, he notices the half spread wings at her back obviously unconsciously moving out of the way of the door's frame, so, under his breath, he reminds her that they want it to look like a costume, so she should stop moving them. James thoroughly ignores the ridiculousness of even thinking that.

They make their way past the security camera covered lobby and into one of the elevators in the middle of the room. As the elevator doors close behind them, the thing itself not observed by cameras, Lunastra lets go of him and, with one surprisingly fluid motion, leans herself onto a wall. "Thank you for doing this." The tired and sad expression she shows make him feel uncomfortable, since he still only knows the fact, not the reason exactly why the woman is here, or rather was on top of a collapsing building.

He looks sheepishly to the ground "Well.", that covering just about all he can say in response. As soon as the woman lets go of him, he turns away slightly, trying to process the weirdness of the utterly strange limbs moving against his back, as well as simply giving his mind a little time out.

Though by now, all his sleepiness is completely gone, he still feels a bit like he is stuck in a dream. It doesn't help at all that the cabin's walls are mirrors, so that even when he is turned away, he can clearly see the woman adjust herself and with it, move the wings out of the way, so that she can lean back more comfortably. Lunastra had explained to him that she is an indigenous life form of this planet, but they hadn't had neither the time, nor the strength to elaborate on the hows and especially not why she looks partly human.

James is thankful that the ride doesn't take very long, so he is spared from having to closer examine the woman, allowing him still to just think of it as a little weird, but not real. _It's much too late in the day for that. Or too early. Let's just focus on what's going to happen now._ He looks back at Lunastra, who has her eyes close. Clearing his throat, he finds intense golden eyes immediately snap back to him, the expression on her face guarded at first, but almost immediately softening, when she seemingly recovers her bearings. Just then, the door of the cabin opens to the floor James instructed it to stop at. "Here we are." he motions for her to lean on him again.

Doing so, she looks around the bland, if at least yellowish colored hallway to their right they exit into. Cold lights dotting the walls every few meters illuminate the long hallway much too brightly, it almost stings in her eyes. They stop shortly into the hall, in front of them a nondescript, white door. Emblazoned on it is the room number, 23 "I had imagined Marie-the Captain..living in more than a mere imitation of a hotel room." Mu murmurs wonderingly, as she leans herself onto the wall, so James can open the door. James notices the slip to correct herself to properly address his colleague, wondering why she feels the need to do that, even though he would see it perfectly natural for them to be on a first name basis with all that happened.

Ignoring that thought, he smiles, "Oh, you'll be surprised." entering his code and fingerprint to the door's locking mechanism. The lock disengages with a soft click, though not one that James could hear. He holds the door handle, the door slightly ajar, grinning like he's about to reveal a secret. "These are actually huge apartments, most of them have two or three entrances from the hallway." Motioning toward the following doors that appear further up the hallway. "Shouldn't you know, seeing how these are your buildings?" his grin widens, making her smile as well. Pushing the door open, he switches on the light and it offers a view into a vast, moderately decorated room.

At the far right, about six meters into the living room, as Mu guesses, she can see an opening in that wall, leading to another room. Once James supports her inside, leading her to a sofa on the left of the room, she can spot another room on that side. In the living room itself, there are two tables, one knee high in front of her and a dinner table a bit behind the sofa. Three chairs around the dinner table and two armchairs next to her and the sofa she now finds herself sitting on. Gingerly wrapping her wings around herself like a leathery blanket, she is slowly laying herself down.

All around, it looks barely more comfortable than in the hallway, all the chairs black, with matching dark tables. The cupboards left and right are also in a dark color, appearing black in the muted light, but a hint of a pattern shows on them. Walls white, the accents around make the room seem rather sterile. A bit saddened by the fact, Mu still spots a few signs of this apartment being lived in properly. A few scattered readers here, a device of undetermined purpose thoughtlessly placed away there and general signs of presence in every corner.

So Mu just assumes it's a matter of personal taste, that she herself can't see the appeal of the monotone arrangement. It makes her smile, though, thinking how this doesn't seem to fit the rather lively Captain. It reminds her of how comfortable the woman appeared in her own, true home just a few hours earlier. A very disconcerting reminder of how much time has already passed and what happened in between. Even though she had to explain it to James, it was a mere listing of events, not particularly concerning her.

She doesn't care so much about the fall, the loss of her apartment, the physical pain she is in now. But it is very hard for her to keep calm, knowing that someone managed to take her most important possession and that she lost er restraint when Marie found her on that building. "Marie" she murmurs. She finds she is able to distract herself comfortably with thinking about the woman. Feeling relieved that she was able to prevent her from getting hurt, if not completely.

"So, why exactly did you come back here..there..so suddenly, in the middle of the night? I thought you were away, with Marie trailing you." James asks, his voice gradually getting louder, as he is returning from the other room to the right, carrying two glasses and a large pitcher of water to the low table. His voice visibly jolts Lunastra, but the woman looks up to him with a gentle expression, turning grateful when she spots the water. James finds himself staring at the strange sight of the woman laying on the sofa. Tall when she stands, she now dwarfs the two seater piece of furniture. Added to that, of course, is the startling display of her nature in form and color. The moment stretches, but Lunastra doesn't say anything, waiting for James to get to grips again._ You'd think she's used to being stared at._ "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you. You certainly deserve the break, from what you told me."

"I appreciate it, actually. The water makes me realize how much I yearn for a drink of it." With considerable force of will she seats herself upright again, showing barely a hint of the effort it takes her, while James returns to what is apparently the kitchen. A moment later, he comes back with a tray of food, sandwiches from what Mu can see. Reaching for the pitcher, she asks "Is it alright for us to help ourselves to those provisions?"

Letting out a laugh, he puts the tray with the food onto the table. "She'll manage. There's much more, if you're hungry. I bet she'd find it more important for you to have some, rather than worrying about having any left." He seats himself into one of the arm chairs, watching silently as Lunastra takes a second glass of water and one of the sandwiches.

He tries hard to ignore the clicking of seemingly sharp, certainly hard claws of fingers on the glass, as well as the quartet of equally sharp looking, pointy fangs that bite into the bread. Once Lunastra is finished, he offers "Alright, maybe you should rest until Marie is here. I'm dying to know what this is all about, but I think, considering that you were just about to fall asleep, I can wait a bit more."

_I'll just need to be home on time. I really don't want to miss either of this or my wife's plans. _he grins and, though Lunastra doesn't know what about, she smiles as well and lays herself down, again thanking James for the provisions, support and break. "Don't worry, rest for now." he reassures and, leaning back in his chair, takes a bite of the sandwich he took for himself.


	40. Chapter 37

Marie exits the cabin into the last stretch of the night. Signs of it ending are the few people staggering home, exhausted or intoxicated, not limited to any social status. Leisure clothes for the many music clubs and fancy dresses for the upper class. Though the nature of City, its layout and construction method for the private residences, will hide those differences, as soon as the people enter their homes, between the similarly built, white apartment complexes.

The strain from the past few hours gradually increases, making Marie hurry to get home, to finally get some real rest. But she reminds herself that there will be a bit more explaining to be done, before the day is over. _And the day just started..._ She is rather looking forward to it, though, since it will be in the comfort of her own home. And she is looking forward to seeing Mu, be it for concern about her health or just for woman herself.

One of the people from the street seemingly decides on the spot to enter the building just before her, swaying slightly in his drunken state. Marie bumps her way past him, as he stopped right in the entrance. But, almost at the elevator, hears a loudly mumbled "Wait..." behind her. Frowning, she turns around. _What could he possibly..._ Before her mind can even finish the question, the man turns around and stares at the sign, the house number, above the doorway he just entered. After a moment, slumps his shoulders "This isn't 21-04" and shuffles out onto the street, seemingly undecided on a direction.

Amused by the display, she silently wishes the man good luck for his excursion to his home two districts over. With a shake of her head, she steps into the elevator and unknowingly copies Mu's behavior in that she leans her back on the same spot on the mirrored wall.

Finally in front of her own apartment, the keypad informs her of an authorized presence already inside, thus the door being unlocked. _So they made it._ In the back of her mind, she never dismissed the possibility that Mu had to be delivered to a health center regardless of revealing too much, but now she assumes that, despite making a very uncomfortable memory, it wasn't as bad a fall for Mu as her mind made it out to be. _Or she's not telling. _Sighing, she enters, instead of unsuccessfully pondering the circumstances any longer.

The lights inside are dimmed, and from her position at the door, she first spots James being half crumpled into the arm chair, eyes closed and breathing lightly, very obviously asleep. Stepping in further, she notices the remnants of a meal, if only something simple, on the table. From there, her eyes fix on what is lying in, or rather over her sofa. The pair of long legs, wrapped in tightly fitting pants, hanging over the arm rest, since the piece of furniture is only meant for two and even then on the small side of such things.

A slight irritation rises in Marie. _Why didn't he let her sleep in the bed?_ But immediately pushes that aside, seeing how she imposed herself on James at an unreasonable time in the first place. _All things considered, I should think I'm rather lucky. _She steps around the arm chair in front of her to take a complete look at Mu, expecting her to sleep from her posture. And her assumption turns out true, though in a much stranger display than her mind could provide, because of the woman's nature once again.

One of the two wings is draped over the woman, just like a blanket, long enough to cover even a good part of the legs and the tail that she can see poking out from behind and under the legs. The other seems to have slipped down the side of the sofa, now hanging limply onto the floor, except for the stabilizing bones on its top. The arms at her body's side, she appears to be quite comfortable and Marie is relieved that she can see no strain in the posture. _That's a good sign, even with her species, isn't it?_

Slowly, Marie approaches the sleeping woman, feeling the urge to reach out to pick up the wing rising. _There is no reason not to..._ she thinks and so she gently lifts it up. Taking care that the woman doesn't wake up, she is careful in handling it lightly, inspecting it closely. _So smooth._ Expecting it to be rather rough, she finds it to be much more like artificial leather in that it is thick, but contrary to the clothes and furniture covering material, the skin in her hands is smooth as silk and very flexible.

Focused on scrutinizing every detail very closely, Marie doesn't notice the eyes that just opened behind her and now follow her ever so careful touches. "They are not that fragile." The voice, throaty from sleep, jolts Marie out of her revery, but strangely she doesn't feel silly at effectively being caught, only off guard. _Caught doing what, anyway? _

"Oh, hey, I thought you were sleeping." she grins sheepishly. But neither is she letting go, nor does she stop her ministration. Which she grows aware of when Mu, after answering with a short "I did.", accompanied by a smile at Marie's increased embarrassment, silently stares at the hands that move over the skin of her wings. At first Marie simply stares back, enraptured yet again by the color shift in the golden eyes, caused by the simple, slight movements of the woman's respiration in the dimmed lights of the room.

When she realizes what Mu must be staring at, she instantly gets aware of what she is doing, by now her motions are much less an examination than they are a caress. A strong reminder of a similar incident that already feels quite a long time ago to Marie, but unlike then, now she is well aware that she doesn't want to let go. Perhaps even...but she is deterred from the continuation of her thoughts, when, out of the corner of her eye, she can see James stirring awake. Reluctantly, she lets go of the wingtip, it stays hovering in front of her for a moment longer, just like their eyes still meet.

A mere moment later, Mu sits upright, now both appendages wrapped around herself. James finally wakes up completely, looking rather disoriented around the room he's in. Once he spots Marie, he looks like he remembers where he is and, with his eyes drifting over to the other woman, why he is here. Groaning, he sits up from what he now realizes was a very bad position to sleep in. Stretching himself, he asks "Welcome back. I assume the Commander sent you out for a checkup, so..are you alright?"

Marie seats herself in the left over arm chair. "Yeah, he did. And I'm fine. Just a bit bruised and shaky, because of the other incident." grinning sheepishly, she looks at Mu, finding worry in her features. _You should worry about yourself._ Leaning forward she has to restrain herself from laying her hand on the woman's knee. "But I am much more concerned about you. What are we going to do about your injuries? I..we can't let you sit here and perhaps even get worse in time, if you're not getting treated."

Flashing a smile, Mu reassures "Do not worry. My nature allows for a few tricks that, in this case, makes treatment unnecessary. The processes involved in transformation also allowed for me to set the broken bones, strengthening them with tissue and muscle wrapped around them. However, for the duration it will take for them to sufficiently heal, which would be around three days, I reckon, I will need to remain in this form."

"Three days?" Marie sceptically looks over to James, who just shrugs. _I get the sentiment..._ and Mu does little to elaborate, but smiles and nods in affirmation. "Alright. You should know, so I'll just have to trust you on that."

Clearing his throat, James finally jumps into the conversation as well "You said you've been with the Commander. What did he think of what happened. And how much" he looks to the sofa, from where Mu grins at him for the reference "did you tell him?"

Laughing humorlessly, Marie starts to relate what she discussed with her superior "Well, of course I didn't tell him about...our subject's circumstances. I wouldn't have been able to leave in the near future if I did. Or maybe did have leave quickly to go to a mental institution." She looks apologetically over to Mu "No offense."

"None taken. I can only agree." the woman smiles.

"Sorry anyway. Regardless, I did talk to him about the fact that something had been stolen from..Lunastra's house, while I was with her at an entirely different location. While not revealing where that was earned me a bit more of his rising ire, I managed to deflect it. I reminded him of the people who visited him when _I __took my longer weekend_" she emphasizes the point like the Commander did, adding her own displeasure "and basically ordered him to stop me from continuing my investigation. It now makes them, or rather the people who instructed them to take that stupid action, into the most likely suspects of this whole affair."

"He believes you then?" James asks. " I mean, yeah, of course he knows that was a strange move from whoever and like you told me, he didn't like it one bit. Well, even with what I assume were rather vague explanations, it is obvious that it's no coincidence that just a short time later her" he points at Mu "home blew up. Did he say if those _suggestions_ he got included insinuations that something like the explosion may happen?"

While the two converse, Mu is paying close attention, very surprised at the revelation that there has been something of a threat to Marie's superior. For now, though, she takes in the information and keeps quiet.

Marie lets out a laugh, this time genuinely amused. She is aware that she should explain to Mu what they are on about, when she suddenly remembers that the woman had easily overheard the conversation between herself and her Commander back during their short stop in Aimerse. _Why didn't she comment on that? _she wonders and keeps in mind to ask her exactly that later. "No, they weren't that stupid. Which leads me to believe that they have a different plan with that attitude. It was a very bold thing to do, which, superficially, really does seem like a much too blunt move to be planned."

She gets up and stretches herself with a tired sigh. Looking out of the windows, she can't believe that the first rays of sunshine are already creeping over the horizon. _Goodness, this late already._ Sighing again, she turns back to James and Mu. "The problem is, they were the kind of people I can't just simply investigate, higher-ups of the Commander's higher-ups. Well, I will need to start from a different angle then. And I've already got an idea."

Walking over so that she is standing right next to Mu, she holds out her hand "Before that, however, I assume you would like to get rid of that dried blood on the back of your head. We neglected that for much too long already, my apologies. Not to mention that a nice, hot shower will do wonders anyway." Her grin falters when she thinks about Mu had said when they finished dinner back at her parents' house. "I mean...cold shower?"


	41. Chapter 38

After conceding to Marie's wish that she go first and overcoming the logistical challenge of getting her currently rather unwieldy self into Marie's small shower cabin, Mu enjoys the water stream for quite a while, before she step back out to the living room, wrapped in only a towel. "I am afraid there might be a problem. Would you happen to have a change of clothing?" she asks Marie, who is reading the news report about the incident they both had the unfortunate pleasure to witness live.

Looking up from the datapad as she finished to read the last sentence, her head turns to Mu and she can only stare. Marie wouldn't call herself prude, but this display of minimal modesty manages to surprise her quite a bit. For a moment, her mind is focused on solving the problem of how the towel could wrap around the back of the woman. _This is not something you should wonder about. This is not something you should wonder about. _she tries to tell herself, mainly to get her mind off it, which doesn't work at all. But, her mind still provides a solution to the problem she didn't think possible to ever come up – though seeing it in the flesh didn't hurt, she thought unintentionally – is that it didn't.

A knowing grin appears on Mu's lips and she cocks her head slightly and without a word, she takes a step closer. Marie jumps up from her seat, the datapad slips out of her hand and clatters on the ground. "I..." she wants to start to respond, but at the same moment James comes out of the kitchen, three cups of fresh coffee in hand. Marie whips her head around as she hears the cups tapping against each other, somehow feeling the urge to explain the situation.

Whatever situation she might think there was, when she quickly looks back to see the reaction of the other woman, she finds her already gone. _Aw crap..._ Which only leads to her own embarrassment, when she turns back to James once more, who only saw her standing around and looking from side to side. "Everything alright?" he then asks with a smirk.

"Yeah. Sure." she straightens herself and heads for the bathroom. She manages to remember that she didn't answer the woman's question. "Mu asked if I had spare clothes." Though Marie couldn't see with her back turned to him, her statement only makes James smile brighter, since, with a bit of logic applied, it explains her confused state. While they would be busy to find something that could overcome the height difference, James picks up the datapad from the floor and reads through the news reports.

Meanwhile, Marie focuses intently on digging out the items of loose clothing that she kept for days of relaxing, which should fit the involuntarily scantly clad woman standing a little away from her. A moment later, she produces a rather huge white shirt and a pair of equally big, sporty slacks. "This is the best I can do. You can..." Handing them over to Mu, she indicates she means the large wings with a wave of her hand, unsure of what to say. "um...adjust them as you need." She apologizes quietly, as she quickly exits her own bedroom, for not asking how the shirt could be worn, simply leaving the space for the woman to change. _She'll find a way, of that I'm sure._

Once back in the living room, accompanied by a smirk on James' lips, though he pointedly focuses on the datapad, Marie drops herself into one of the armchairs, groaning inwardly at her behavior just now. With her eyes closed, her head leaning heavily on her right hand, the two of them wait silently on the other woman's return.

Just as Mu walks back into the living room, James, putting the datapad aside, asks Marie "So you said you have an idea on how to proceed?" Pleased to see that the clothes fit, if seemingly a bit tight on the bosom – which she only notices peripherally, of course – Marie motions for Mu to join their starting conversation.

She doesn't look directly back to James, not wanting to know if he is staring at either her or the other woman. _Jealousy? Seriously? Get a grip._ With an inward sigh, she finally answers her colleague "Yes. It's a long shot, but the only thing I can think of at the moment." Dragging her eyes away from Mu, she looks over to James. "Remember old man Graham?"

Looking confused for a moment, he seems to remember something. "Graham Sornton? The professor?" Marie nods in affirmation. "Sure." he laughs out, shaking his head "Man, it's been a while since I heard his name come up. What could he know about this, though?" They both miss the look of surprise Mu shows at the mentioning of the name and she hides it quickly enough, so the two don't notice.

"Well, with his knowledge about biology, I would be surprised if the people who we can now safely suspect are behind this, didn't try to get him to work for them." she shrugs "I mean, according to his colleagues, his knowledge about biology is so versatile, he's basically a complete research institute all by himself himself." Something in her mind connects and she turns to Mu "Come to think of it, why didn't you work with him? I'm not sure I'd believe you if you're going to say you didn't know him and he's been in that area of research long enough so your time lines should coincide."

Mu regards Marie sheepishly "Quite right. I do know of him and did so then as well. I do not know if they...asked him to work for them. Neither was his name mentioned when I was there, nor had I contacted him about it." she wonders if Marie notices that she is leaving her answer rather vague, thinking it likely. Looking at the woman, the intense stare from under furrowed brows that meets her confirms her thought.

After a moment of reflection, she realizes that it really isn't necessary to hide things from the Captain anymore, the need to do so making her sigh. "I apologize for the attempt do divert. Along with the promise that I would cooperate, I did trust you with the knowledge of our existence already. So I should just outright tell you that Graham Sornton – an alias, for reasons you can surely imagine – is one of us."

"He is?" Marie's expression quickly turns to surprise and, matching her, James looks at Mu disbelieving. "But..." Marie's thoughts travel quickly back to the times she met the man, concentrating on the pictures of the old man that surface from her memory. The more she thinks about it, the wider her eyes grow, until she suddenly looks back to Mu. "My goodness.."

The warm smile from Mu makes her talk, though somewhere in the back of her mind, she assumes this strange creature already knows at least some of it. "How could I never..." she mumbles, still slightly absent in thought. But she shakes her head, as if to clear it and tries again "The first time I met him was when my father took me with him. I was about...twelve years old at the time. He had to ask the man some questions about something for a case..." trying to recall details, she fails. With a crooked grin, she shrugs "Well, I wasn't so much interested in what they were saying then, so I don't remember what it was about."

"But he looked the same then, as he does now." James quietly finishes Marie's thought, as he remembers seeing him a few times over the years, only now realizing that he was always unchanged. Looking at Mu, he continues "You haven't told me everything, or at least not as much as you told Marie, I guess, but I assume that you..." he falters slightly over addressing Mu as someone so vastly different, even though her current form serves as a very obvious example right in front of him. "You're not...aging, or something? Then again, Graham doesn't get called old man for nothing."

"No, not aging at all would be rather undesirable." Mu laughs. " Living this long, while we appreciate the time we have, we prefer that it ends at some point. Immortality is not something we ever had the desire to contemplate. The process is merely considerably slower for us." Her tiredness is now starting to show very clearly when she repositions herself on the sofa, as well as the effects of her injuries.

Marie, despite wanting to know more about the scientist she knew for so long, especially if he is related to Mu in any way, is just about to offer for Mu to go rest for a while, when the woman speaks up again, the strain audible in her voice. "As for why you have not noticed along the years, I suppose he had used the unconscious suggestion that I introduced you to." she smiles at Marie. "While it would be significant for a person not to age, with a suggestion that the fact is of no importance for an inconspicuous old man, it works, as long as you do not question his character. Had you ever had doubts about his person, you would have become aware of what was unusual."

"But manipulating officers of the law..." Marie mumbles, though she finds that to be a rather silly thought. Still, she finds herself torn between starting to understand the necessity, but also hating the fact from a professional point of view. With a sigh, she sets the internal debate aside for later, seeing how she can't change it now, nor liking to think about what would have happened if these people would've been found out. She does understand the need to see how they needed to protect themselves from outside interest. The very reason their sitting together the way they are now being proof, as if there was any doubt left.

_I don't want to think about what my report will look like when all this is over..._ Once that thought enters her mind, she reminds herself that there is a long way until then, so she will have plenty of time to concoct something that doesn't send her to a comfortably padded cell, nor offended her sense of duty. "To wrap this up quickly, so we can all get some rest" _Though I'm going to head out, once Mu's asleep. _Marie adds internally, wanting to prevent the possibility that the woman would want to tag along, even with the injuries. She knows she would be unable to refuse, when Mu would inevitably bring up that she knows the professor.

_I guess she wouldn't even care that she had to run around like that._ "since tomorrow..." she stops again when she looks at her window, seeing the first rays of sunlight spread over City. "Well, today, of course." she laughs, amazed how time flew away. "It's Sunday. That means two things: first, if the people who took...your egg away" she stumbles over the word, not looking at James, because she assumes that he doesn't know that bit yet. Wanting to get over this quickly, as she feels her own eagerness to do something for Mu already rising, she tries to put off elaborating for later, knowing that James will tag along.

"were to go to another city, or even off planet, there would obviously be a long distance flight. Be it registered or not, that would leave a trail that could be followed quickly, since there are automatic tracking systems in the air and space ports. Never mind that it would create even more problems for them if they were to use an unregistered flight, the fact that on a Sunday there are very few at all and almost no public flights going out should have them discard that idea."

Getting out of her chair, Marie walks over to her windows, opens one and looks out over the starting day, the brilliant white of her surroundings glinting in the sun, without blinding through reflection. "The second thing that, thanks to it being Sunday, makes our lives a little easier would be that almost all industry is closed for the day."

Turning back to the others, she continues "Those that have permits to conduct normal work are highly unlikely to house research facilities, especially for this biological type. It does, however, allow us to tell when there would be another energy spike where there shouldn't be one. Just like the ones we were lucky to find out about from back then. And they would need a lot of energy for a research facility, even a small one."

"So where does Sornton come in?" James asks, aware that Marie elaborates for the sake of Lunastra.

"Well, as I said, I'd be surprised if they didn't offer him a place in their ranks." Marie shrugs. "Even if he did decline back then, I can see how they would want them on their project now as well, or rather more than ever. From a few other cases and case reports I've read, I know he was the type who would have taken an interest in a thing that may appear a little shady and this would have been hard to sweet-talk around, without giving up some more details about their plans, especially since he already declined once."

"So you are hoping that he took it upon himself to find out about where they might go to study...their loot." Mu guesses, emotions audibly running high once she hast to think closer about the incident once more.

Marie could almost see the woman vibrating with tension, with the need to burst out and go look for herself. Quietly, trying for soothing, she agrees "That's right. It's the best I can think of for now."

Apparently becoming aware of her demeanor, Mu sighs deeply. "Thank you." She takes a moment to gather herself again, visibly relaxing. With her calm, her smile returns, Marie notices and realizes that had been the case the entire time. _A mood indicator._ It makes her believe that she didn't look close enough, which is something she thinks very unlike herself. _Well, there's been good reason to be distracted..._ She chastises herself to not let that happen for anyone else related to this case.

"Yeah, well, don't thank me yet. I'm just doing my job here, I don't know if there is a trail we can find. I would be surprised if these people weren't thorough." She doesn't say that she actually starts to fear for Graham Sornton's life. If she made the connection, the ones who may have invited him surely would've done so long ago. But it would be a big thing in the news, considering how few murders happened these days and a person as popular – at least in his circle of scientists – as Sornton, would have been found quickly. _Let's go about this with a more positive attitude._

As if reading Marie's thoughts, Mu announces "You may have a bit of a problem, though, if you plan on contacting Graham on a Sunday."

Marie sighs, leaning heavily on the armchair's backrest, an eyebrow rising in question. _Or not._

* * *

><p>My apologies for the long delay.<p> 


	42. Chapter 39

"I would think I have some leeway, being an officer of the law and all that." Marie exclaims, slightly exasperated. Regretting it immediately, she blames it on her ow, increasing tiredness. _Perhaps it's not the best idea to go immediately, being somewhat out of it, but I need to follow this. _She is well aware that she already spent too much time without doing anything, but it took her until she calmed down, knowing that Mu was alright and she herself take a short break to feel less immobile from aching muscles, to get the idea to contact Graham Sornton. _And it's still just a long shot._

Mu's smile wanes slightly and Marie hopes it isn't from snapping at her. _She's probably taken a bigger emotional hit than she lets on. _A thought which reminds her of the feral creature she found on the broken building. _I really don't want to add to that. _Despite that, Mu still sounds good-naturedly when she explains "He always was a busy man, taking little time for himself. Some of us were always a bit worried that he perhaps worked too much. But he reassured everyone from time to time, he is quite content with his life, so who are we to suggest otherwise."

Mu ponders for a moment on how to continue. Seemingly reaching a decision, she continues "A few hundred years ago, however, he started to indulge in frequently changing activities, taking time solely for himself. Always on a Weekend, as you may guess. Always from Friday to Sunday. And he stuck with it, longer than his previous, recreation free way of life. Mostly because with their arrival, humans brought a wealth of ways to entertain oneself with them, which took him through many activities already."

_Amazing, the things you can still learn about people you know. _Marie slowly shakes her head, smiling. "And you're telling me that he will be unavailable today, then?"

"That I do." Mu looks up to Marie apologetically, sighing. "His idea of recreation is non work related research into things that interest him on a personal level. Or of interest to us as a species." Before Marie can ask what kind of research that would be, Mu holds up her hand "That is all I know. Merely that he does research into topics our elders declared important. But I do know that he travels off world for this pastime. As you know, there is a station near this planet's moon, within which there is not only a military base, but also civilian laboratories. Perfectly protected, so you can see there is delicate work being done. Graham travels there each Friday, staying for three days."

Only half hearing the general information she had heard and read in news reports many times before, Marie picks up on something Mu mentioned that she remembered hearing her say before "You mentioned these elders before." She can see the jump in topics slightly throws off Mu, but she assumes that it would simply be natural for her to mention them casually, as she would only talk to people in the know about them. _Well, I am not. But I need and want to be._ "Are they a form of government to you?"

Mu smiles at that. "No, they are not." Her explanation is interrupted, when she is straining herself trying to get up, but, before Marie can reach her from her place at the windows and James finishes getting up from his seat, she manages to get upright. "No need to worry." Mu tries to reassure, though her strained voice betrays the calm she displays. "I just need to move a little. I can feel myself getting stiff."

Despite wanting to know more, Marie doesn't want Mu to go on like this, rather having her finally rest. _I don't like seeing her this way and I've already been pushing it._ She walks over to Mu and, without hesitation, in a simple gesture, though slightly awkwardly performed, places a hand on the small of the woman's back, wanting to urge her to start walking. "Maybe we should continue this later today. You really need to get some rest." James, though still remaining silent, stands at the ready to assist the unsteady woman, just in case.

With an unreadable expression, Mu looks to the arm that goes to her back. Her eyes rise to Marie's and a gentle smile goes with quiet words "I will be fine, but I thank you for the concern, of course."

The attention to her arm's placement makes Marie aware of what she's doing and what she's touching. She can clearly feel a smooth, hard shape underneath the thick shirt. She assumes that it connects and stabilizes the wings and tail, above and below her hand respectively. Staring fascinated. she also notices has a rather small hole in it, compared to what is protruding from it. _How did she..._

As if reading her mind, not that it was hard, when her thoughts clearly show on her face, Mu explains in one simple word "Symmetry." Which makes Marie look back up to the woman, the question apparently again clear on her face, she receives a more elaborate answer "I admit to being a bit vain, where a half transformation, leaving them hidden, simply does not feel right."

Mu hesitates, "As for how..." but seemingly comes to a conclusion after a moment. "I suppose even these little things are necessary, if I am to remain believable." a sigh escapes her and, though she tries to hide it, she can't fully obscure her apprehension. "Folding them s possible, even with injuries, if rather unsightly." As a demonstration, she flaps the wings slightly to point them out and the skin of them recedes to the bone structure, leaving two stumps protruding from her back.

"It is not something we tend to share," she says quietly "but now the two of you know." Her expression doesn't give away what the discomfort she can't stop from appearing in her voice. Marie is at a loss for words at that and finds herself relieved when the other woman's smile returns to its rightful place. "I am..grateful that I do not have to hide what I am from you." she says, seemingly with an underlying meaning, though Marie thinks it may just be her, hoping for something to be there.

"I see. Thank you, again, for the trust." _I, too, have to admit that this is better._ Marie thinks, when she tries to imagine the wings missing from the picture in front of her._ I just shouldn't tell anyone, right?_ A drawn out moment later, Marie realizes what Mu just said, suddenly finding herself very embarrassed that she forgot James is still present. Unable to think of an apology to him that doesn't make sound as bad as she feels, Marie continues as if she didn't just ignore him. But she's thoroughly avoiding to look at her colleague, for fear of finding him realize things he shouldn't have – at least not this easily. _That and seeing the signs of inevitable mocking that would follow._

"Alright," James finally speaks again, declaring loudly "it's been fun, but I'll have to leave the two of you alone." Not wanting to be even more impolite Marie looks over to him, and spots a barely hidden smirk on his lips. _Oh great, that didn't take long. _she groans inwardly. Glancing over to Mu, she finds she can't read the woman, if she got the insinuation. It take this moment for her to realize what James said means and she turns back to him, her eyes showing the question unasked, but immediately answered.

"My wife and I have made plans for today that I really wouldn't want to miss out on." James continues. Marie hadn't heard that before, so she is again surprised that he doesn't plan on coming along later. _Yeah, well, you dragged him out here._ her mind supplies unhelpfully. "So I'll be going now." his smirk gone when he regards Marie, he asks seriously "Are you going to be okay? Despite everything, you, as well, still took a decent hit, making me cringe just from what you two told me. Can I leave without having to worry?"

"Yeah. I really am fine." Marie shakes her head, smiling. "I'd have thought you'd come with me. I didn't know you had plans..sorry for calling you over in the middle of the night. But anyway, no, you don't have to worry when I'm going out alone, even after all that's happened." Pointing to her legs, still, or more accurately again her weak point, she adds "I'm steady and not even sore...anymore."

"Good. And I'm glad I could help." James looks up to Mu and, after a moment of thought, he holds out his hand "Besides helping, it's been a pleasure meeting you. An amazing discovery, which I'm not sure I understand fully yet, but I'm sure we'll meet again soon enough." and when the woman holds out hers, he grabs and shakes the strong, strangely textured hand. "Until then."

"Until then." The tall woman says, smiling warmly. "And I, too, look forward to it. I hope you have a pleasant day."

Thanking her for it, James reaches for his Jacket, draped over the back of the armchair he sat in, and wishes good luck to Marie once more. Only a minute later, he shuts the door to Marie's apartment behind him. _What the heck, that was a quick exit. I'm going to hear about this one for a while..._ another inward groan makes her shake her head.

"You were planning on leaving me behind, yes?" Mu's quiet, but amused comment makes Marie spin around to face the woman.

"Well, I..." _Not anymore._ she sighs. Grinning sheepishly, Marie admits "Yes, I was." _Great. The plan to run off while she sleeps failed, then._ _The upside of all this is that she got at least a bit distracted from what's at stake here. Though I'm not really sure what exactly it is. _Since they came back, her mind tries to connect the pictures of the angry woman, the contorted face, that stared at her on the rooftop, to the rather serene person right in front of her. Still, she tries to look stern, when she adds "And I still am. You should, stay behind. Not only do you need rest, but you're...a bit too..." At a loss for words, she simply indicates Mu's state of being with a wave of her hand toward the woman.

"You make a good point." Mu contemplates her current appearance and Marie can almost see the mind of the woman looking for a way around being left behind. _It's a public place, even if most of it is military, there are many civilian areas as well. _Marie had seen the current state of affairs on the station in a short documentary a while ago. _There's no way we can get you anywhere in there, without making the news by lunch._ "Very well."

The other woman concedes. "I suppose that my being there could possibly lead to problems aside from my appearance. I would guess they expect me to contact Graham, by myself or through you, so I assume it possible they might be watching the station." She grins brightly, but her words are determined, when she says "A healthy dose of paranoia may serve you well as well. Perhaps, when you arrive there with the thought in mind that you might be watched, you can find evidence of surveillance, should they be so daft as to send personnel, instead of manipulating the electronics."

"So you'll listen to me and stay? Thank you." Marie is grateful, since she still hasn't accused the woman of anything, so she could hardly prevent her from tagging along, let alone following alone, were she to forbid her from going. She wouldn't like the tension that could cause between them, now that they get along so well. _And I couldn't even blame her, if she went. She has every right to follow, if it's really...her future child at stake?_ Marie feels slightly queasy over thinking of the implications of that.

Pushing those thoughts away, Marie takes a deep breath and addresses the point she was trying to make for the last half hour "Good, alright. Let's get you to bed, then." she says and is met with a growing smirk, along with a rising eyebrow. _Oops..._


	43. Chapter 40

As it is practical, unlike having to rent one or officially get one from the District HQ, Marie simply takes the Flyer in which she returned here, now only minutes away from the space port and only from there is she allowed to travel off world. The system was implemented not only because it was easier and faster to have a controlled high-speed launch into space, compared to taking about two hours to reach the upper layers of the atmosphere by normal flight, but also because traffic could be monitored and a wide range of criminal activity could easily be prevented.

The range of flight surveillance of each of the twelve space ports around the planet overlapped, so there was basically no way around using official means to enter or leave the planet. _Makes taking an unregistered flight near impossible. But near is not totally. Still, I'd think the risk to leave a trail would be too high. Unless... _Marie remembers a possibility she left out so far. _They have their own people in the port. _Slightly disconcerted, she plans on contacting James' office, sure that there will be a subordinate of his around, and have them look into flight lists and possible manipulation of those. _Though it would be hard to tell, if there's someone of them simply writing a flight plan._

Flying over the last stretches of the now almost empty Entertainment District, the vast majority of visitors already at home or in no shape to try going for it, Marie is grateful for Mu not having made it difficult for her, especially since she herself could already feel her own tiredness increasing rapidly. Though she had tried to hide it as best she could, the other woman clearly didn't believe her saying she is fine. In dire emergencies like this, already half falling asleep, she is also grateful for the existence of medical pick-me-ups.

_The nurse didn't say I shouldn't take both._ Marie had taken her shot when she set the autopilot for the Flyer, but she ignores that the nurse had no reason to think that she might use a stimulant in the course of the day. So she took one of the pills from the cupboard in her bathroom, took it with her and now sits in the pilot seat, staring at it warily. It has next to no side-effects, but she is usually entirely against medication, unless absolutely necessary. _I suppose the circumstances fits that. I do need to follow this quick, or they'll get away. _Her tired mind cynically adds _If they don't, regardless._

Shaking any such thoughts away, she swallows the pill, expecting it to fully work, once she has to lift off into space. _That's a good time to be awake, really. _Though the process was really easy, since it was mostly automated, it always helped to be aware, to be able to react, as long one wasn't flying with a large transport that had its own pilot. One of the very few of such larger flights that would go out that day just makes its way off the launch ramp and Marie watches it depart and shrink into the distance quickly, leaving a trail of condensation behind it.

With this method of getting into and the alternative way of propelling vehicles within space, would make the trip last at worst an hour. Considering that she is still very early in all, Marie thinks that by the time she arrives, at the very least the person she needs to visit should be up. Mu told her that he, as well as most of her species, require little sleep, so Sornton could and definitely would use the majority of the three days of his stay to dedicate to his research.

While she lands the Flyer near the terminal for private flights, one of three launch pads, the others reserved for commercial and transport flights, Marie thinks about how she left Mu behind. Though she suggested, multiple times, that the woman need rest and sleep, she actually had no idea of how it worked for them. It makes her wonder if she's being indulged, now that the woman sleeps, or seemed to do when she left.

She would have liked the company, admittedly even more than if it was James. She would apologize, at least in her mind, but seeing what she'll have to face soon, she forgoes the notion. _I guess I was very obvious just before he left...He didn't say anything and I didn't do anything particularly wrong, but I guess I can look forward to first mocking and then a lecture. Not that I don't know it already myself._

She shoves those thoughts away, leaving them to deal with later. Especially the ones about what Mu might be thinking now, since she is sure that the other woman isn't clueless, after this morning. She also really doesn't think about the implications any incline in that direction, what with being different species and the reminder of how the woman ages that keeps repeating in her mind. With a groan, she admits defeat to her thoughts, which tend to circle back in on themselves. _Just great. Next thing you know, you'll cause an inter-species fallout. _

Marie desperately tries to drive away the question of compatibility that wants to surface from the back of her mind. Strongly pushing these thoughts away, for real now, she concentrates on setting down the Flyer, rather doing it herself than letting the autopilot deal with it, if only as more distraction. And just a minute later, she manages to gently land the vehicle without even a jolt.

Before she can relax and think too much again, she gets out of the Flyer and steps onto the sidewalk leading to the terminal. Strong wind blows around her, so she tightens the jacket around the thicker clothes she changed into. The space station would be kept at a steady temperature artificially, but the docking areas as well as corridors leading to separate areas were kept rather cool, the former even freezing at times.

Though to even get there, she has to use the privilege of the law officer's priority queue jumping. Luckily it doesn't turn out too bad for anyone, since the next launch is supposed to start almost two hours later. _I came at just the right time. Not that I expected any problems getting a flight up._ Still, she would have felt a little guilty if others had to wait for her, even though she was doing her job. Nevertheless, the check-in attendant calls Marie's office to make sure she is who she says.

Since that is the standard procedure Marie expected, she is only surprised when she is told to be checked for weaponry or other materials not allowed on a flight. _You already know I'm with the police. What's the holdup? _she just prevents herself from saying the play of words out loud, assuming that agitation on their side would only make the procedure take longer.

If it's because of that, she doesn't know, but it only takes her a minute to be shoved through the checks and procedures. So it is only a few minutes after she entered the building that she can exit the ground floor only building and its strangely sterile, gray and white halls into a tunnel that leads her to a single-person Shuttle. She could take the Fyler she came in, but since it isn't hers, she rents a Shuttle in the name of District Security, making this more obviously an official trip for an interview. Aside from that, she assumes there might be a chance that this move catches the attention of whomever she is following.

_It's always helpful to have them make a move. _she sighs _Not that I expect much, but who knows. _Entering the prepared Shuttle, she is instructed by an engineer on its functions, even though she knows it already, proving that by showing him, as she did at the check in, her license on her work-issued datapad. Still, she understands that it's just another standard procedure that, thankfully, only takes another few minutes.

Finally then, she is strapped into the seat, while the Shuttle is silently being rolled out, toward the launch pad. She ad already planned to take the time of the flight to mentally prepare the questions she wants to ask the Scientist. Revising the standard approach she would've taken, she wonders if she could also indulge in more personal questions, now that she knows that he belongs to Mu's people. She isn't sure if she can, or should, call them that, or f they may not prefer another title. _Then again, they don't seem the type to care much. __**Then again**__, I've only met two them so far. _

_Except..._ Startled, she finally realizes that there is a third that she met. _Daora! How could you not see that? Especially when she was the one who phoned in the bombing! _Shaking her head, _Good grief, you need to get your head back together. _she sighs, but really doesn't feel like it makes any difference. It makes her wonder if the woman already knows now, that she knows, somehow doubting that Mu wouldn't use the time alone she is given to contact her family. _Another oversight from me. My word... _

As the voice from the console in front of her indicates that the Shuttle reached the launch pad, she firmly seats herself upright, tightens the harness and swears, after really waking up, to pull herself together. _It can't end well if you don't concentrate. _she chastises herself.

Her eyes are closed and she takes a deep breath, when the silent, smooth high-speed launch shoots her vehicle toward space.


	44. Chapter 41

Despite the pill, Marie feels herself getting very drowsy, though the medicine was not designed to prevent that from happening, if the body needed it. When her thoughts swam around her head slower and slower, less and less intelligible, after a while, she fell asleep. In her almost lucid dreams, distorted images of the last two days kept repeating ad nauseam, but, in the end, Marie didn't expect it any other way, once she would find sleep.

Just about an hour later, she's waking up, feeling much better. Even though she felt a little restless, as the images didn't disappear as quickly dreams usually do. The hour of flight passed very quickly and the beep of the console, as well as the shuttle's computer's voice telling her that she arrived at the station's lag-free communications array wakes her, so that she can request a docking space.

Seeing the green colored station floating in front of the largely brown moon, Marie regrets to have missed the transition from atmospheric to space flight in her half asleep state, as it isn't something she gets to see very often, but, in the end, this feels like the better choice to her. _Right. _she yawns and stretches herself, after she instructs the flight computer to delegate a landing area with the Station's system. _And here starts the eery automation. Only a handful of people in charge of a system that does..just about everything._ She doesn't start to think about what may happen if a system breaks, knowing that there are many redundancies for each and every one of them.

An automated response assigns a docking bay, which the Shuttle's computer immediately picks up and changes the flight path accordingly. The screen in front of her tells Marie that the Shuttle will proceed to circle half way around the Station and then dock at an empty bay there. _Great. A freezing dock, because it's on the dark side. _She puts on her jacket and tightens it, already shivering slightly from the anticipation of the cold. The computer data tells her that the Station won't rotate far enough until she has to land, so that there would be sunlight streaming in, immediately cooling the area below zero.

Anyway, the transition would be short and once the bay doors close, the heating system takes only a minute to get the air to bearable levels. Accordingly, the Shuttle that was covered in part in tiny ice crystals thaws quickly, once Marie sets the vehicle down inside of the station. From the outside, she hasn't been able to see inside, because of the reflective coating of the windows, but, once inside, the hangar already told a lot about how empty the station usually feels.

The huge structure, easily an hour's quick walk along the main corridor running through the middle in width, from which every subsection could be reached, is, as usual, devoid of much activity. Six docking bays' exits converge at the spot Marie is standing, to form the start the corridor. After the airlock, for which she needed a passkey that she received at the space port, the penultimate security measure before entering the main hall scans Marie for a variety of things not allowed on the station. Last but not least, the automated voice requests for her to hold up her electronic ID.

Once the system recognizes that all the information it collected fits together, the doors in front of her open. The lobby is deserted, but features a seating area, if a bit uncomfortable for the lack of backrests, for twelve, or more if they scoot together. Arranged around a small, specially lit corner, the audience taking seats there can either listen to a live person talking, for example introducing the station, or a wide range of holographic recordings, two of which Marie had the pleasure of having to sit through a few years ago. On the wall behind where the speaker would stand, a large screen is seamlessly set into the wall. It displays the logo of the company under which all the scientific, military and civilian ventures are run.

To the left of that, a terminal allows access to the public computer systems of the station, featuring simple things like directions, explanations and history. For someone like Marie, a person with a security ID, it also offers more detailed information, of which she makes use. Typing in the name Graham Sornton, the system shows her that he is present and the directions to where is currently is.

She sighs when the system tells her that Sornton could be found in a laboratory half way along the station's width. As she walks down the small hallway that leads her a few steps down to the main hall, from which the individual areas can be reached, she tries to remember as many instances of meeting him as she can. There weren't too many along the years, but she has seen him quite a few times, the majority of which when she was a rookie, going along with her supervisor and even before that, when her father took her with him. Usually after her begging to go, because she wanted to see the fancy labs, which tended to make her parents think that she might be wanting to get into a scientific career.

In the end, they weren't surprised that she chose to work for the District Security, though. As such, it now allowed her to use her ID for a single person transport, though she wouldn't have had to wait in the first place, since there is no one around. Still, with the ID being the fastest way to procure the transport, Marie enters the hallway down the flight of stairs, at the end of which the area opens up to the transport cabin depot.

The lack of people around easily lets one forget that there are many electronic eyes watching every move she makes, alerting security and support within moments in emergencies. The personnel for that has its place in a room behind a one-way mirror that is on the wall at her back. She doesn't think about how impersonal and cold this kind of non-welcome must feel to visitors, but it wouldn't make sense to have a reception desk, since the only people up here were those who knew where they needed to be and those who didn't would be individually shipped in, welcomed and instructed at the entrance.

Regardless of the lack of activity and largely uncaring about the electronic eyes following her, Marie enters the small inter-station transport cabin and chooses the destination from the display in front of the seat. A quiet whirr is the only thing that lets her know the cabin actually works, until it quickly whizzes off along the hallway. Very little can be seen along the simple, straight path the machine takes. There are a lot of windows along the way, granting a view on the individual waiting-, break or reception rooms – which it is, depends on the purpose the rooms behind those have – but they are all disused at the weekend.

Barely a soul can be seen at all, the few people who are on the station at all are mostly behind the walls of the anterooms, working, but Marie actually spots three persons on the ten minute ride. Still, the whole station gives her a very eery feeling all the way until she stands in front of the sliding doors leading to where the computer told her Sornton could be found._ I just hope I won't enter into the same kind of lab scenery that Mu described. _Though it isn't that thought which provokes it, the feeling of strangeness rises, when she opens the antechamber filled only with utter silence, walking up to the lab-door's keypad to enter her ID, so she can quickly get into contact with any someone.

Nearly soundlessly the doors slide open, granting her access to a rather wide, though short hallway, at the end of which she can see a decontamination chamber. Walking up to it, she doesn't relish the thought that she would have to go through that procedure, but once standing in front of it, it becomes apparent that it's just a standard installation for a lab section of the station. Should anyone need to perform research that requires sterility, they could use the device, but at the moment, its doors stand open to let anyone who gained access in the first place through.

Further inside, she can already spot the man she's looking for, working on a computer that displays what appear to be samples under a microscope, knowing that it's him, because, aside from the cluttered desks full of science-y hardware, he seems to be the only one present. Though she revises her assumption, when she sees that there is another glass door at the far end of the room. _Might not be alone..._ she files the thought away, just in case.

Sornton had been alerted, as soon as Marie's ID was accepted by the computer, so now he is already facing her, as she enters through the unused decontamination chamber. "This is an unexpected visit." he greets, just to punctuate that he is aware of the other person's presence. He is squinting slightly against the light behind Marie's back, as the room is kept in a rather subdued light compared, but it only takes him a moment to recognize her. "And by an acquaintance, no less." To Marie's surprise, he sounds slightly relieved, but also amused. "Good morning, Captain. How are you, these days?"


	45. Chapter 42 - Part 1

It had been a few years since Marie needed to talk with Graham, so she is surprised to hear he still remembers her. But, with the information given to her by Mu about him, knowing now – at least to some degree – what he is, the surprise is dampened when she remembers him along the years she's known him and how he now stands in front of her.

_He really didn't change at all, save for a haircut. _Though the lab-coat is missing this time, he still wears a tweed jacket, brown and matching wide pants and shiny black shoes. His hair hasn't even started to gray yet, despite that he should be, in her normal terms, nearly three times as old as herself.

It makes her wonder what her father would think of this revelation. _They were always on good terms with one another. _But she can't see her father being angry over what might well be considered a breach of trust, as he would then, of course, also to know the background.

"You remember me. I'm flattered." she grins and approaches him between the tables full of equipment that seems meticulously organized. "I'm...fine. Relatively." her grin turns crooked, shaking the scientist's hand. "A lot has happened these past few days. A lot has changed, though I'm still processing." she always had been freely talking with him, just like her father and, from what she heard, just about anyone who had to converse with the man. _Perhaps it's in his nature that makes people easily companionable around him._

A bit of concern is written in the expression of Graham, which, Marie guesses, is only to be expected, when she comes to him at such an unusual time, in such an unusual fashion and practically greets him with saying she has a problem. Something very unlike her, though she assumes that he doesn't know that. Which doesn't stop the lingering thought that maybe, due to his nature, he has more insight than she thinks.

"That sounds more like an informal visit." he says, unaware of her thoughts. "I am surprised. And please, don't take that as an accusation." He regards her closely while speaking. "Have a seat, if we're going to talk." he points to a small table with three chairs next to it, pulling one out for her, before he does the same with his own. "You seem alright physically, so what happened? And how, if at all, can I help?"

"Thank you. And yeah, well, I'm sorry to barge in like this." Marie says sheepishly as she sits down. "You haven't seen the news, by any chance? That would make it a bit easier." she tries, but from Mu's description, she assumes Graham was just working here all day, without bothering with those things. Still, she couldn't be sure anymore, as she certainly couldn't claim to know the man anymore, at least not nearly as much as she thought.

But he proves her guess right. "No, I haven't. I don't even have a broadcast station in this room." he waves his hand over the laboratory. "The nearest is outside, in the waiting room, but I don't use it. So something rather big happened." his turn to guess.

"Alright, I'm feeling a bit bad about it, but I'll get right out with it." Marie sighs, looking at Graham apologetically and his understanding is showing just as easily. So she relates the events of the past few days for him, avoiding to mention the more detailed information. She could see comprehension rising in his expression, but he remains calm and doesn't interrupt her. Managing her words so that she can relay her knowledge of one of the most important insights from the events at the very end of her elaboration, by saying "But before things turned really bad, for Mu really, she told me of your people."

And with that, he doesn't seem surprised. "Yes, I can see how, with all the other experiences, that would still manage to throw you off." In turn, however, apparently he can see the surprise about his reaction in Marie's expression. "It is rather rare for this to happen, but we made this kind of case relatively simple to deal with." he begins to explain. "There are but two possibilities, as you may guess. If it so happened that someone found out about us, say by accident, they would be evaluated individually. This, however, hasn't happened in our history of living among your people. The easiest way out is for us to make them forget."

Marie had heard about experiments with the goal of altering the mind. Whatever her opinion about it, though, didn't really help anyone now. _And I can't see these people misusing it. But that still has to be proven... _"The other would be one of you letting the person in on it." Marie guesses then, since that happened to her.

"Correct." Graham smiles. "As you can see, there is no reason for me to be surprise that you know. I am still worried by your explanation and its connection to your being here." Marie had only mentioned that Mu had something taken from her, before she tells him that she knows what it is. As she does, his worry increases visibly, his frown deepening and he seemingly wanting to pace, but stopping himself from doing so. But he already grasps the reason what she might want from him "Are you here because they might be asking me to support them?"

"In a sense, yes, though I believe that's rather unlikely." She reminds him that he is known, even in the general public, as being one of, if not the best in the field, thus making him as a choice rather too obvious. "Still, should it be the case, I hope for your cooperation, that you tell me about as soon as it happens." She reaches him her mobile-comm's number. "No, I don't expect it. I am here to ask if it already happened. What I just talked about, back when Mu had been researching, I would imagine that those same people who approached her, were also asking you to take part in the experiments. Even then you would've been known in the field, or so she says."

He looks thoughtful for a moment, clearly remembering, but having to piece together events from so long ago. "Yes, I remember something." he gets up and turns to the workstation he had been standing next to when Marie entered. Calling up a few files, he turns back to Marie and points at the screen. "I got it now. I had been – and still am – working on...well, a problem that developed among our people for some time now. I have been accepting resources, such as personnel and laboratories before this one was built, from an interested outside party, but only in the matters that I could let them see."

Marie follows him and looks over the data on screen, but, just as she expected, understood little of what was presented. _A problem for his entire people? Is it different to Mu's? _she files that away in her mind to ask about later. For now, he continues with what interests her specifically "Yes, there were offers made that would have allowed me to look at this problem from another angle. A different approach seemed prudent at the time, since I didn't get as many and not the kind of results I needed, so I accepted. The company was greatly invested and previous business partners of theirs, among those colleagues in other research fields, reported no misgivings."

"That's pretty much what Mu told me, yeah." Marie sighs. "I'm not doubting you, it's not like they'd outright announce that they're performing such atrocities." she misses his eyebrows shooting up on his forehead. "Mu said she didn't know anything about you working with them." They both sit back down, though Graham first gets a cup of coffee for himself from a dispenser, asking Marie if she wants one as well. When she nods, he orders a second cup from the machine and carries both over to the table.

"Well, neither did I about her, so that came as a surprise earlier to me. But then, why would she? I don't think there was a reason for her to assume so and she's always been majorly independent, so she wouldn't come asking for help. Besides...hm..how much has she told you about what she needed to research?"

About to answer, Marie stops midway. "Come to think of it..." she thinks it over for a moment. "Actually, she didn't go into specifics at all. Just something about a rare condition about her..let's say potential offspring. I was rather distracted, I guess, that I didn't even notice that."

"You had to take in a lot in a short time. I'm sorry if I remain rather vague about her motives, but they're hers to disclose." he shows an apologetic smile. "However, I can tell you about my work and that it may even concern her condition, but I am still not far enough along to say anything specific to that." Taking a sip from his cup, he seems to remember something "Anyway, what I wanted to say just now is that I believe that these company people didn't have any reason to tell me about Mu's involvement. Since we, I mean my team and me, stayed in different labs and, toward the end, even started to work up here, once everything was finished, we couldn't even have run into each other."

"It sounds a bit like they didn't want you to know of each other. But would they know of your personal connection?"

"I have no reason to believe they did. By that time I had already been working under my third pseudonym and rarely went back to our lands, rather having anyone who wanted something from me come to me. It may seem a bit strange to you, but a century or two without contact to our families is not uncommon, or even frowned upon, as would the case for you."

He puts no emphasis on the fact that he used pseudonyms and Marie finds she should be angered or at least professionally disgruntled at the fact that he did, but, to her surprise, no such feeling is arising. She sighs, which puts a questioning look on Graham's expression, but she doesn't elaborate, smiling slightly defeated. "Alright, so you did work with them. What kind of research did you do? Did you get to see them experiment on living humans as well?"

This time he does look surprised. "I wondered what you meant when you named their experiments atrocities. I didn't know they did such a thing." he seems to ponder for a few moments, remaining quiet, as does Marie, letting him think, though she didn't expect that he doesn't know this part of the operation. Marie relays a little of what Mu had told her. "And you're saying Mu knew about this?" he asks, to which Marie responds with a simple nod. "That would explain why the company quickly got out of business. At least for me and my people they merely terminated our contracts, generously compensating us as was agreed."

"That didn't strike you as odd?"

"Why would it? Companies and investors happen to lose their interest when preparation takes too long, becoming too costly, or even lose their own funds all the time. Since they payed us a lot, I assumed the former; that they discontinued the research for some other, more profitable venue." A sad smile replaces the remains of surprise, when he looks at Marie "After all these many years of studying about and with your people, you still manage to surprise. Mind you, by now we at least know you're not all like that."

"There were many times in our history where there was doubt to that. But yes, I'm here to find who did it and get them to be punished for it."


	46. Chapter 42 - Part 2

The two of them talked for a while, trying to find out if there was any hint at such activities that Graham might have missed and which could help her now, but, in the end, he seemingly hadn't been aware of anything. While Marie reserved herself a margin of professional doubt, she tends to believe him, just as much and easily as Mu, personally. She doesn't like the fact, but, so far, she has no other option as to follow tedious tracking of scraps of information.

Not even background checks of Graham would reveal much, as they had been done numerous times, every time a new officer had to work with him on one case or another. She had no grounds to forcibly search through the data that Graham had accumulated then and anything related, nor would she want to go that way about it, so, since they seem to be decent people so far – if only her gut feeling tells her that – she tries the simple approach of asking. "Could you share what you were working on then? Perhaps it can point me in some direction I can look into further."

"Sure, why not. First of all, it's essentially the same as I'm working on right now." he points at the computer data he had called up earlier. "Once the project funding was cut, the team needed to be reassigned to a new project. So I chose to continue this on my own."

"Because it concerns your race." Marie finishes and surprises him.

"Yes. I guess Mu told you about that, then?"

"Again, though this time outright, only superficially. Only those basic words, really." she grins.

"It's not something that we need to hide from those like you, who know. As I said, we worked on a similar issue back then, though then it regarded your species, of course. You see, there aren't that many of us in total. We have a stagnating population of a few ten thousand individuals." Marie is sure that it shows clearly on her face that she didn't think of how many of them there could be, because he chuckles at her reaction.

"Let's say we are somewhere near, but less than one hundred thousand, living all over the planet and now in your colonies as well. Now you need to know that there isn't that much interaction between the individual clans, of which there are maybe a hundred." Graham had already gotten up to his computer again, calling up a map that displays the spread of the species. "This isn't something anyone gets to see very often." he winks at Marie.

"You already know that we live a long time, I suppose?"

Fixed on the screen, fascinated by the small red dots on the planetary map, representing the location of Graham's people's settlements, according to the caption. Marie looks up from her forward leaning position, almost whispering "Near thirteen hundred years, right?" She had been thinking about this a lot, each time she, or rather her mind reminded her of Mu's age.

"Not quite as much, but not far away either, yes." He answers quietly, letting it sink in a bit more. Clearing his throat, he continues to explain his work "When your people set down and...offered us access to your technology, we began to look at ourselves as well, to see if we couldn't thwart some of the more persistent ailments and diseases that befell us. It wasn't long until we noticed that, with there being rather few of us, despite the life-span, we experience degrading genetic material."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow." Though she isn't a biologist, Marie had some suspicions about the meaning already.

"Before we could look into the matter more thoroughly, we didn't notice, but it turned out that there was an increase of failed or malformed births. Albeit not alarming, but disconcerting." he huffs. It seems to Marie that it wasn't a topic easily talked about. "This is still something that's only between the elders and very few of us who look into it. I would ask you to keep this for yourself. For now."

"If I even understand it." she smirks. "Alright."

"Don't sell yourself short. It's a rather simple, if self made problem, with no easy solution." Once again he is taking a deep breath. "We had always limited our numbers, thinking that too many would only produce many problems you seemed to have with large population. Every one of us was informed." he seems to defend their decision, though Marie doesn't know why. Though it makes her a bit uncomfortable, it isn't like she can comprehend the magnitude of the decision. Still, it was good to know that it seemed to be one where everyone was involved in the deciding.

"In the end, the genetic diversity wasn't enough..." seemingly hesitating again. "We have never put a name on it, as you can see I don't know what to say. You have a word for it, but I don't want to call it inbreeding, since there was never close relation or even ancestry involved. On average, it turned out, it revolved around quite distant lineage of many generations, but it seems, in the end, enough to still affect us negatively."

For a long moment, silence stretches between the two. They settle back into their chairs, with Graham sharing a fresh drink in a new cup. Marie really doesn't know what to say to that, but she can easily see how they didn't want everyone to know about it. "And now you're looking to fix that, of course. I can see there would be a connection to altering the human body on a genetic level, such as that group Mu and you talk about. But how does the human part in the equation help you? Since I guess you haven't been researching with your genetic material at the time."

"Yes and no." he says, visibly glad that the uncomfortable part of his explanation is over. "We are part of the same genetic heritage that reptiles stem from." Her confusion must be apparent, so he explains "With great deviations over the millennia, our heritage is from the local reptiles, to be more precise an indigenous form of the Squamata, or lizards. Much as you share strong genetic similarities with a few species that grew on your planet."

"Right, okay, I know that one." she grins at him. "It's been a long time since basic biology lessons, but that one I remember."

"Good. There is also a connection between you and us. At least remnants of DNA in your make-up that connects to DNA of reptiles on your Earth." putting his cup on the table, he leans back in his chair. "And my findings from before I had been contacted to work with the company, had yielded results in fixing our problem with interchanging strands of DNA with yours."

He lets that sink in for a moment. "Purely artificially grown tissue and blood samples, of course. However, there were byproducts that were of interest to the company and a few of my colleagues working with me at the time published their findings. So they found out easily, though there were others who had already worked with them in my teams, so they would've heard of it anyway."

"Which reminds me." looking thoughtful for a moment, he turns back to his computer and pulls up an information site about another station, one that Marie had heard about being planned, but hadn't cared since it was something that didn't interest her much. She is somewhat grateful that the topic of his experiments is pushed aside, since she doesn't know what to think about it. She can easily understand his points, but that doesn't mean she can grasp the scope of what he's talking about.

There is one thought that she is sure will stick with her for a while, though she would really prefer her mind didn't pick it up from her earlier thoughts once more. _What about compatibility between the species? _"There were a few of the team, when the cooperation started to wane, just before the end to our contracts, who were discussing if they should follow the offer they apparently have received, to continue work, if on a different subject, as soon as this", he points to the screen, "would have been built. Then, it was still in only its planning stage, as far as I know, and the building of the station didn't start until many years later, with very little coverage to the public, though only because of lack of interest."

"You think they might be working on something there?" Excited at a new possible hint, Marie curbs her enthusiasm, "That would be a little too obvious, don't you think? Even if it's a generally ignored place, it's still public knowledge that it exists and that it's a research station."

"Well, there is something the general public may not be so aware of. It's not finished yet." He shows Marie a news article on a specialized, thus to her rather obscure medium. "They have a few areas where, every few weeks, there's already some work done, to test the facilities, but most of the time it's supposedly empty. It is a privately funded station and since it's been declared a very high security area at the first known trials, I would guess it's their own, but definitely a private security firm providing the service."

This has Marie perk up. "Private security." she mutters, standing up straight, pacing a little around the room.

"Yes." Graham looks at her, question clear in his expression. "I don't think that's anything unusual, is it?"

"No, it isn't. But it's finally a possible connection to the company, Solid Structures. One of the first things we found out about their activities back then was that there were illegitimately active sites they likely have used, but the important thing is that those were supposedly guarded by a private security firm. And I don't think they would be using any other than their own, then or now, when they do have them. That would only complicate the hiding of their activities."

"What if there isn't anyone of the original..employees left who worked there then, a completely new team working on it now?"

He has a good point and she has to admit to herself that it's more hope of luck than anything. Still, it's either this approach or, in all likelihood unsuccessfully, trying to track a getaway vehicle of some kind. Which in itself wouldn't get her anywhere either. "While I agree that there is a possibility for that, I believe they wouldn't be able to get another, to group of mercenaries easily, especially not one that is trustworthy to that degree. It takes a very unscrupulous people to support that kind of thing."

"You do have a point with that." Looking rather thoughtful, he asks "So that's what you're going to do? Fly over there and look at what is going on there?"

"I'll have to make this one official." she gets up and thanks him for the coffee, putting the cup away into the small corner kitchenette, into the sink. "Though they would be really stupid if they'd gunned me down on the spot, I have a feeling I'll be better off when someone else knows where I'll be, aside from other benefits of an official investigation." Chuckling, he agrees that is probably the best choice.

_Added to that, I will try and see if I can't get a warrant to monitor outgoing communications from the station. _She thinks it rather unlikely, but there might just be reason enough. Still, it's Sunday, so for now it is actually impossible to get a permit to do it, if only out of spite from the official she would need to disturb on their day off. _I'll have much better chances tomorrow...but will that be too late? It won't help rushing in, but..._ Conflicted, waiting seems like just as bad a choice, since she has no idea what those who took the egg might already have done.

Marie doesn't want to worry Graham any further than she already had to, so she places her trust in the system she is working for. _Mu said she is keeping an eye out for any activity of theirs in City...however she's doing that...So I will have to see if there was any transport, hopefully, if at all, something suspicious, leaving City today. _She really dislikes how insufficiently covering this approach is, but she can't think of any other way to track the stolen property.

They both wish the other their farewells and Marie walks out of the laboratory. Had she looked back, she would see a worried look following her and she would well agree with it. A short while later, she is back in her transport, leaving to head directly to her district headquarters. _I'll just let Mu rest a little more. _she thinks, as she herself slowly drifts off into sleep once again.


	47. Chapter 43

Marie wakes, startled by the flight computer telling her that they almost arrived at the port. She hadn't even realized that she slipped off into sleep once she departed. Nevertheless, she feels a lot better now that she had had two naps. Stretching herself luxuriously, she goes on to prepare for the landing. This one she wants to do manually, if only to work off the remaining kinks of sleepiness.

Amazed by the apparent overwhelming tiredness that had obviously caught her, even subduing the medicine, she promises herself to make it a short day, listening to her own advice, so to speak. She had headed out from the laboratories of Graham Sornton quite quickly, so she is rather surprised to see that it is already somewhat late in the afternoon, now that she is back near the surface.

As she is busying herself with the instruments and landing computers, though, she does miss the sight of the buildings and runways being illuminated by the afternoon sun, the display of white and gray against the full green-blue of the surrounding area that has largely been left untouched. Thanks to the light, everything was covered in a faint blue hue, almost making it seem like it was all slightly frozen. Inactivity all around the port supports the impression, making it a rather desolate scene.

In the evening there will be a lot of people around the halls of the terminal once again, but that is still a few hours away. Now, then, Marie is walking alone through the empty building, the odd personnel seemingly bored out of their minds. On the rather rare occasion that someone would visit this port the first time at this time of day on a Sunday, they would be very surprised, but to most everyone else it is a normal sight.

It doesn't take her long to get to the borrowed Flyer and she is quickly off to get to her office. Already feeling right at home in the vehicle, she throws the jacket into a storage compartment behind her, without a second thought. Just as quiet as the space port, the streets were nearly empty, only a few personal vehicles and transport cabins going around to deposit their occupants.

The news report she is listening to on the short flight doesn't bring anything new about the incident at Mu's home, so she switches it off. She can feel her earlier enthusiasm drain out of her, because she reminds herself that, when she's already in her office, she might as well get on with writing a report that her supervisor will eventually want anyway. While she parks the Flyer at the headquarters, forgetting her jacket when she leaves it, and walks into the building, greeting the guard at the front desk, she realizes there really is very little she can add to the vocal briefing earlier during the night.

Since there is no other reason left for her to be here, she stops in front of the staircase and returns to the front desk. There, she asks for the warrant form and fills it out. She would love to make the request a priority, to seek out and ask for a law official to sign the paper as soon as possible, but Marie is certain she would fail, especially on a weekend, when she couldn't explain, couldn't give a probable cause to barge into a private, high-security installation.

her way back to the Flyer, vaguely avoiding the questions of the bored guard at the front desk._ It's not like I can't understand him. Word about this case shouldn't have spread...yet...so me getting a warrant at this time of day is something he'd be interested. I would be._ The thought makes her smile as she enters the Flyer again, this time with the intention of going back home.

–

Marie hesitates to leave the Flyer. While she did find out a new lead and still has another, she doesn't have anything that could provide Mu with a little relief, any hints that her possession is still cared for, or even just still intact. Leaning back in the comfortable pilot seat, she huffs out a deep, held breath. Waiting will grate on her for the rest of the day, but at least she can distract herself by using her home computer to look deeper into this new station, its owners and all that. She doesn't want to think about what Mu must feel.

After a few minutes of sitting in the quiet cabin, she huffs again and takes the elevator to her apartment's floor. Once in front of her home's door, she decides to go about as quietly as possible. _I hope she's got some rest at least._ Her thoughts accompany her into the living room, which she is, in that regard, happy to find empty. Now that she is back inside, she notices that she forgot her jacket, but she finds herself in no mood to go back and get it.

Instead, quietly, she goes into her kitchen and puts up an order for a fresh coffee into the machine. It whirrs away, thankfully also not making much sound, and Marie walks over toward her bedroom, wanting to see if Mu is alright. On her way, she switches on the workstation, which finishes booting up, before she even reached the other end of the room.

Marie peeks around the corner of the open door, looking at the woman lying there on her bed. No one who would have seen the sight in front of her for the first time would have believed it a woman, much less that it had a human form at any point. They would have likely run away, however, but Marie already knows what, who is sleeping soundly and seemingly quite comfortably in the sunshine coming through the window at the end of the room.

She can't help staring, mesmerized still, even though she had seen the form for some time now. The play of colors, so very surreal, draws her in. Marie edges closer to the sleeping woman, quietly, slowly walking forward onto the carpeted floor that keeps her steps silent, even with the shoes she didn't take off. Just as she reaches the bedside, she remembers the incredible hearing the woman had displayed, it makes her stop in her movements, but it doesn't seem that she broke her sleep.

It startles her a bit, then, when the sleeping woman does stir just when she herself isn't moving anymore, but it turns out that Mu just turned around a bit, now resting on her side. The back of the woman is turned to Marie and it surprises her to see that the wound on the back of Mu's head is already close and well on its way to heal. The gauze bandage around the torso and arm apparently held nicely, so Marie couldn't see the cuts and bruises there, but she expects they have subsided.

Tentatively, she reaches out to touch the back of Mu's head, foremost wanting to feel if there is anything of the rather scary wound that had bled profusely in the beginning. Foremost, she tells herself, but her heavily beating heart and her nervousness – which by now, she really does know the reason for – betray her thoughts. Nonetheless, the wound is already closed and healing nicely, but Marie isn't quite able to focus on it, as her hand is running through the thick mop of silky smooth, turquoise hair. In the back of her mind, something reminds her that she had a similar situation before, which turned out quite embarrassing for her, but she can't get herself to stop immediately.

Not quite because she expects Mu to wake up any second now, rather because she thinks it's a really bad thing to continue for so many reasons, she takes her hand away, holding it in front of her chest. The pair of wings suddenly start to stretch down to the end of the bed, the woman they belong to doing so, too, groaning in delight, providing an incredible sight.

It seems Marie won't be let off that easily, as the other woman folds her unwieldy self amazingly gracefully – and amazingly sensually – onto her back, turning her head to look at Marie. Not as sleepily as Marie had hoped in the back of her mind, during the thoughtless moment before she meets the other's eyes.

The searing gleam in the eyes wasn't subdued by the appreciative smile the woman shows her. _Oh bloody..._ "Hello." It slips out before she can help herself, especially before she can adjust her tone so that it doesn't sound maybe even just not **as **revealing that she is appreciating what she's seeing. The lack of eloquence just makes it worse for her, especially when she reminds herself of Mu's formal way of talking, and it makes her feel a bit like an idiot. But her awkwardness doesn't seem to faze the other woman, if she recognized it at all, instead Mu's smile turned knowing and seductive, while inching ever so slightly closer when sitting herself more upright.

Marie is well aware that they were heading to a situation that would be inappropriate from her professional point of view. And she can barely remember why that would be so, wanting to succumb to the rising desire. Some currently far away part of her mind tries to call attention to the nature of the woman in front of her, as if she wasn't able to see the distinct difference, as Mu hadn't yet shifted back into the form of the CEO Marie had met first.

It is this non-questioning need of advances, but more so the reminder of her profession and what it had unearthed, or rather what that still lacked, that makes her sit up ramrod straight, flushed almost uncomfortably – but not really. "I..!" she coughs, trying to blink the obstructing fluff out of her mind. Getting up from the edge of the bed she's been sitting on, she remains, standing stiffly, regarding Mu. "This shouldn't...I mean..." again at a loss for words, not at all supported by the smug grin on the usually so composed face in front of her, or the sight of the woman trying to get herself to calm down as well.

Taking a deep breath, Marie manages to calm herself down. _You're a grown up and so is she. She'll understand. _she thinks, but the truth is best left unexplored. _It'll only create problems. _she tries to convince herself, but the thought continues on its own and calls attention to her still strongly beating heart, as well as other parts – _Yeah, problems alright. - _which she strongly pushes away from her mind, lest she loses herself in the eyes she's still staring at again. Which is another hint her rational mind provides her and one she clings to thoroughly; she's still staring.

Coughing again, she declares "We shouldn't. It's only going to cause problems. I'm still...working.", hoping to sound as mature as the advice appears to sound in her head and at least a little more original, as well as elaborate to Mu than to herself, as she just had the same, rather lame thought run circles through her mind. Though the nearly palpable heat from the pair of eyes in turn regarding her doesn't dissipate in any measure, Marie does receive a nod, albeit what seems to be slightly confused. She takes the small, almost rueful smile that follows the stabbing look disappointment as an agreement.

It does make her sigh deeply, though. "I'm...going. To look up some things about what I found out. Perhaps...you can join me, so I can explain." Marie is already half turned away and as soon as she finishes her invitation, she bounds out of the room.

* * *

><p>Please let me know if this feels right. First time I've written something like it.<p> 


	48. Chapter 44

Marie leans heavily onto her desk, head hanging low, over the running computer. Her mind relentlessly repeats the last few minutes, always interjected by the same question. _What the heck was that..._, though the answer is very obvious. She had already opened the window next to the desk and when she straightens herself, she stares out, slowly managing to reel her thoughts in. A few deep breaths of the clear and slightly cooling air do a world of good.

Her calm only lasts as long until Mu walks into the room. Marie sees her enter out of the corner of her eye. The tousled appearance, clad in the wide white shirt, and the rich, green-blueish colors flaring up as the sun's light streaming in through the windows glows on her, coerce her to stare yet again. This time, however, she is spared any prolonged – even if this sort is rather welcomed – discomfort, when her computer announces its presence with a beep, the unexpected notification making Marie flinch slightly. The notification merely announced that the computer would enter saving mode, so Marie simply pushes a button on the keyboard, sighing deeply.

Mu is looking out of the open window, standing next to Marie, and quietly she says "My apologies." earnestly apologetic. "I did not want to inconvenience you."

Marie is quick to argue back "You didn't!", turning away from the computer in a quick motion, only to end up facing a very closely standing Mu – _Oh geez! _and bump against the desk, now behind her, when she wants to take a step back.

The woman realizes her mistake and takes a step back herself. "Again, my apologies." though this up close, Marie doesn't believe it was a mistake. _Change of topics! _She turns back to the computer, thoroughly ignoring the mess that is her thoughts. The machine comes back to life nearly instantly and, while she pulls up data, Marie starts to recount her new findings. After delivering greetings from Graham, she tells Mu about the private security that he mentioned is now working on the new station.

Just as Marie expected, Mu looks as surprised as she herself probably did at first. "Too much of a coincidence, but still nothing solid." she says. "But I'm trying to get a warrant, to get into the station and take a look what's going on. Still, you know..." Marie sighs. "It's quite a long shot that there will be anything. I think it might just be too obvious, too well known to make a secret research lab for secretly studying something that they will realize someone will hunt after."

Mu walks over to one of the dinner table, taking a seat. "I see." she offers after mulling that over for a moment. "Did you not say that your superior had told you about being pressured into getting you to stop your investigation? Does that not create the chance for the person or persons deciding over officially authorizing you to look further into the matter to simply deny this request?"

"Yeah." _Actually I didn't tell you that, you just managed to overhear it. _Grinning, Marie pulls up her own chair in front of the desk, sitting down as well. She agrees, but she doesn't tell Mu that she would probably then be thinking about going unofficially and she anticipates, expects, really, that those people would assume as much, which is why she chanced it in the first place. Would there be such a reaction to her request, she would have proof for herself to act on. Perhaps even get a full scale investigation going, with much more resources.

Still, the thought of going without a warrant puts her on a spot. _She's likely going to find out somehow._ Marie thinks, glancing at Mu, who seems lost in thought. _And how could I justify holding her back, in that case? Well, let's first hope it doesn't come to that. _"You're right. And that would make things really difficult." she sighs. "Someone influencing the chief would at least be some form of proof that there is something going on, but it would also mean they would know what I'm up to. I have a feeling that things might quickly vanish from the station then."

Marie thinks about this possibility a little further "It's really hard to get things up there without leaving a trail, but if they're already there and have a few ships of their own – which I have to assume as well – the whole thing can be cleaned out at the blow of a whistle. They seem organized enough." she sighs "Such flight activity should be something that's monitored as well, but those systems are out of City's jurisdiction. Who's to say there won't be a sudden _system failure_ or something." Marie air quotes the possible ruse.

"But that's all a lot of assumption on which I have to act if it happens." At least she can be sure that she has her Commander and James backing her in such a case. Though going vigilante wasn't something she could see turn out well against some possibly big, but at the very least resourceful organization. "So first things first. The warrant. Seeing how we have a witness", she points at Mu, "testifying that they experimented on living people at one point, it should give us probable cause and thus get this warrant through."

"And I promise that I will not do anything rash, on my own, to hinder your process, in case you were worrying that I might be going behind your back." Mu says, as if she read Marie's mind

She smiles back wryly at Mu and thought it made no sense, feels slightly caught "I appreciate that. I can't begin to guess how hard all this waiting might be for you. Well, okay, I can, a bit. I hate it just as much."

It earns Marie a sincere grin, but it doesn't hold long and the other woman regards her seriously again "I would, however, request to accompany you."

An announcement which, really, Marie expected, _There it is, all the same._ but doesn't stop her from having to sigh again in defeat. _How could I deny her that?_ This kind of scenario hadn't happened in her lifetime and, to her knowledge, not since a long time before, that there was anything of this measure happening in City. The novels she remembers from the bookshelf in Mu's home told of scenarios from a time long since past. The newer books of today, even those that date back to the later stages of the flights looking for a planet for colonization slowly, but surely forgot to use the gritty depiction of her job.

There are, of course, regulations she has to follow, as much as there are theoretical plans for almost any scenario, of the kind that had happened at some point in history or those that hadn't, but were derived as possibilities. That doesn't mean anyone would be prepared to deal with a conspiracy-turned-real type of case. Marie has no choice but to go at this in a simple fashion of going step by step, as well as placing personal trust into one side of the story. Luckily, the wrong side had already made a mistake and thus, unless one stretched the belief about their imaginative capabilities beyond reasonable limits, at least gave her some assurance that she picked the right side. Even when disregarding the tiny bit about dragons.

Looking at Mu, she feels very grateful for that fact. "Alright, we can do that." And it makes her decision a lot easier, even though she knows that she still wouldn't be able to justify it to her superiors, unless she reveals Mu's nature to them. Though, if she were honest with herself, she would do it anyway, take Mu with her. For some reason she feels it's right to bring her along, not only because she likes the company. "But..." she draws the word out, gesturing at Mu, unsure of how to put it, even though it's obvious.

An eyebrow rises on Mu's forehead, but understanding quickly follows the unasked question. So does a grin. "Of course. We would not even be able to leave the space port if I entered looking like this."


	49. Chapter 45 - Part 1

The rest of the day passed rather quickly, with Marie relating a little more of what she discussed with Sornton and going over plans on how to continue if she found nothing on the station. Her hopes aren't high for that, but she still has the connection to the _transferred _military personnel that Mu said were used as test subjects. There as well would be no one to talk about this at the base in City, so the whole weekend thing turns out to be quite inconvenient.

It makes her think about what would have happened if she had listened to the Commander, staying in her office until calling it a day and only then returning on Monday to look into the matter. Would she have been introduced to the world of Mu? Would she have even been able to find the woman, once she'd likely fled from the destroyed apartment? Would she be pursuing her as the culprit?

Marie hates this kind of thought, what ifs and such, but she can't stop her mind from going there. To distract herself, she gets up and walks into the kitchen to make herself another cup of coffee. Mu declines the offer for one, remaining on the arm chair, seemingly not at all troubled by anything. It makes Marie remember the question of the woman's sanity. But, from what little she knows of this kind of psychological situation, she'd have to say that the woman hasn't lost it at all. _Doesn't even look as if she minds the waiting. _

As much as waiting already manages to drive herself crazy, she doesn't want to imagine what is going on in that, coincidentally naturally very hard head. Busying herself with the coffee, she decides to break what little professional demeanor remained between them and ask what Mu is thinking, sure that it isn't going to help her keep her distance. But when she returns to the living room, she has to discard that idea.

A sad smile spreads on her lips when she notices that Mu had fallen asleep again._ The fall took a lot more out of her than she lets on, huh?_ Trying to keep as quiet as possible, she puts her cup on the computer desk and goes to her bedroom to fetch a blanket, not leaving it to the woman's extremities to keep her warm.

–

Having busied herself with research into what she was getting herself into, quietly typing away on her computer. All the while she's making a few notes for things she would ask James to look into. The soft snoring from the woman in the seat behind her makes her turn around to look and smile. Marie notices she felt very content. Feeling heat rise in her cheeks, she quickly turns back to her distraction, but the thoughts are, of course, not easily dissuaded.

An hour later, she gives up on concentrating, making little progress anyway. Looking outside, she is surprised to see that the sun has begun to set. She is a little relieved to see the day end quicker than she expected. Whatever high she had been riding until now, suddenly came crashing down. The bits of sleep she had weren't enough, as expected. Finally pulling away from the computer desk, she feels how much her mind is exhausted and decides to end the day for herself as well, in the hope that her current state helps her sleep at all.

Debating for a moment whether or not she should, she decides to wake Mu and have her take the bedroom. Hovering over the backrest of the chair, she can't help herself to just look for a moment. _No harm..._Though her urge to caress away the few strands of hair over the slightly rosy cheek, she pulls herself together and just gently shakes the woman awake.

Marie is surprised by the instant awareness she displays, wanting to ask if she was already awake. Dismissing that as just her nature, Marie practically has to force Mu to go to her bedroom, while insisting that the couch is no new place of rest for her. "Besides, you need a lot more room than me."

Conceding that argument, Mu agrees to take the bed. Marie has it on the tip of her tongue to tease that the other woman doesn't ask to share, but in the end, she realizes she would only tease herself and is thus happy that Mu doesn't get the idea by herself. Instead, Mu says "I am quite sure that I will be able to return to a more practical form tomorrow."

Marie lets Mu ready herself in privacy, surreptitiously taking the blanket she had gotten for Mu to use for herself on the couch. _That's not...creepy, is it?_ she thinks, slightly embarrassed, as she stares down on the cloth laying where she'd sleep soon. Quickly she gets herself a pillow as well and, when Mu emerges from the bathroom, wishes her a good night. Once ready herself, she slips under the blanket, trying to get comfortable on the couch and even more so to ignore the heavy beating of her heart. _This is ridiculous..._

–

Marie rises with the first rays of the sun shining into her living room, having forgotten to switch on the self-shading windows yet again. Groaning and yawning her way into the kitchen, she orders a fresh cup of coffee and vanishes in the bathroom with it, getting herself ready to head to her office. Cleaned and dressed, she is happy to see that Mu is still sleeping, or at least resting, since she isn't around. Though she doesn't know if she really should believe the woman when she says that she's healing properly, considering the length of time she has slept until now.

Assuming that the saying about sleep being the best medicine holds true for her as well, Marie leaves her apartment and takes the stairs down to the ground floor. Despite the pain from the fall finally in full bloom, as these aches often tend to after a good night of sleep, she keeps to the stairs, taking as much relief from moving as she can. Once down, she decides to leave the Flyer where it is, after all it isn't hers, and take the transport tube to the district headquarters.

Arriving there, she exits the tube, accompanied by a few colleagues from other sections, as well as a few of hers. The talk that Marie can overhear makes her sigh in foreboding anticipation, listening to a few of the officers talk about the incident at Mu's home and every so often she catches a glimpse of them staring at her, until they quickly turn away again. _So Eric talked already. What, did they all meet at a bar on Sunday or something?_ She tries to remember if there might have been an event or another announced for the staff of the offices, but she comes up short.

Luckily it's still very early and not many of them are around, so she is trying to make it quickly, unnoticed to her office. The most interpersonal contact she has is when she greets the officer manning the desk. From there, it's a quiet and solitary walk up the stairs, through the open-plan office, into her own. Immediately she sets the machine next to a small sink to work, to produce a fresh cup of coffee. While she felt the severe lack of aroma from Mu's coffee at her home, this would have to do. _It has always gotten me through the days..._ she think, eying the taste lacking brew. _But now that I know..it's even worse than mine, at home._

Sighing, she sits down behind her desk and switches on the computer. She accesses what little she had managed to find the day before, concerning the staff of the research group that Mu had worked with. While there are a lot of names of scientists, there is a noticeable lack of management structures. She'll have to get James to look deeper into that, too, but, looking at the clock, she realizes it will still be a good half hour until he even comes in to work. _Have I been in this much of a hurry?_

Shrugging it off, as there is little she can do now, Marie tries on her own to find out more about one of the two persons whose names had popped up every now and then in her search, before she went to sleep. Though it was already obvious then, she doesn't have the same level of clearances on her home computer as she does here, so she couldn't look much further. _Perhaps that made me rush?_ her mind supplies, but she shakes the thought away, starting to feel as if she tries to justify fleeing from her apartment.

The first name is Kathrine Hofman. Ten years before the name connects to Solid Structures for the first time, the woman graduated from Newman University and from there on climbed the ladder of importance in a bit of a rush. According to the file, just before she was hired by the company, Miss Hofman was head researcher at a publicly funded research project, carried out in the university.

Up to the point of being hired away, research papers, theses, feature articles in magazines and other such things are readily available. As is superficial personal information, even without using the more thorough searches of the District Security. Marie can find no indication that the woman had any nefarious inclinations or anything that would give others leverage to pressure her into it. The woman isn't, or wasn't at the time, at least, in any financial pinch, nor is there any hint that there were any personal problems. _But that doesn't mean she wouldn't take money, if offered. _"Or did she do it for the sake of it?" Marie murmurs to herself.

"Actually, no, not quite." a very familiar voice enters the room, followed by the actual person.

"You're up early." Marie greets James, surprised to see him already. Just in case, she looks at the clock on the display in front of her, assuming that she may just as well have missed time flowing by again, but it's just that he arrived early.

Sitting down in the chair in front of her desk, James looks at her sheepishly. "Yeah, well.." He gets up again almost immediately, walking over to get himself a coffee as well. "While it's true that I had plans, I wanted to get out of your apartment as well." he admits quietly. "It was..." shrugging, he finds himself at a loss for words. "Overwhelming, you know." Finally looking back at Marie, he gets a simple nod and a sympathetic smile as a response. "Almost had me thinking about nothing but that the entire day, if I didn't have fun things to distract myself with." he smirks.

"Yeah. I know exactly how you feel." she sighs, having to shake the feel of having fled herself yet again. "So, you okay now?"

"Somehow, yes. It helped that I stayed up late last night and dug a little further."

Slapping her hands on the table, Marie sits up a little straighter and grabs the chance to talk business. "Ah, yes, you just mentioned this academic woman" she points to the screen "had a better incentive that I can't see from this?"

"Exactly." he puts his cup on the table and sits down in the chair again. "I noticed two things, one of which might and one which definitely had gotten her attention." He indicates for Marie to give him the keyboard, which she does and he types up access to the searches he had made apparently through part of the night. "First the possibility. See this?" he points at a page of the university the woman attended.

"Sure, that's her." Marie points at a brunette near the center of a group shot of around thirty students. Thin, but clearly in good shape, the woman stands tall and proud among her peers. "I've seen this photo and some others yesterday."

"Right. But what you obviously haven't seen yet is this."


	50. Chapter 46 - Part 2

Next to the photo, two lists of names appear and a simple line connects five names, the same on both lists. "On the left list are the students in the physical science faculty, the one Hofman belonged to, when she was in the university. On the right list are employees of Solid Structures." James looks at Marie expectantly.

"You found a list of employees. Impressive."

Obviously satisfied to see her surprised, he agrees. "Exactly that. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Because it isn't a list directly from the company, but something I had to piece together by following names around." he takes a deep breath, letting it out again with a quiet groan. "It seems the list is incomplete, but that's to be expected. There's just a few pages with about twenty names, their job description and where they were assigned, but I did find a few names of interest for it. "

"Wait..." Marie pulls up the university page again, tapping her finger on the picture of the woman. "How did you connect her – and the others, of course – to the company in the first place, if you're saying you had to get to that from another direction?"

"Yes, that." he sighs again. "Wish I'd have seen your findings before I started, would've made things a lot easier."

"Well, from what you seem to be going to be getting at – at some point soon, I hope – you obviously haven't found her in a register of a very small number of personnel transfer requests for scientists that are to be assigned to the new station? Which is why I got interested in her, as you've probably guessed." Marie remembers the short list of people that were supposedly working there some time in the future, but the majority of the names hadn't lead her to anything she could use, no connections to the old facilities and company names. All in all just thirteen dead leads, but then there was Hofman and another. Promising progress, but she lacked access to proceed she would have with these computers, at home. But it seems like James was quicker.

"How did you get something like that?" He raises an eyebrow in surprise.

"I tried to see if I could find any records, passenger manifests or whatnot that gave me names of who might be working on the new station. Turns out that the first name I could find, the one doing the request, was head scientist of biology on a research project at Newman University. Postgraduate Kathrine Hofman." she forestalls questions from him, saying "But before I go on with my meager results, let's hear what you found first. I'm sure you had more success with access to the A.I. from home."

He regards her with a suspicious look, but shrugs it off. "No, not that easy." he shakes his head and thus misses the exasperated look from Marie. _Easy, he says. For him, maybe._ she thinks, before he continues "They were covering so well back then, I'd never thought they had such a document going around now, even if not publicly available. Seems a bit as if they forgot how it works." He pulls up a simple text document onto the screen, tapping his finger on it "See, I was able to find out the name of the company that provided security for a range of facilities at the time, the official purpose of which is still unclear, though we can guess now, of course."

Marie rubs her forehead, despite having slept well and feeling much better than the day before already, she feels a weariness coming on quickly. "How have all these things, all these gaps in records been missed for so long?" The people that had set up the system of the AI would surely get chewed out after the case, she hopes.

"If Lunastra says the government had a hand in it...but I don't think even they would go this far. I guess we'll find out once the system's been checked." Clearing his throat, he sits up straight. "All right, anyway, here's where it gets interesting, a lot more solid as a lead. A security firm that can be hired to work for someone who does experiments like that has to have a reputation of being discrete before even being considered for a contract. So, it appears they have put all possible effort into distancing their name from the connection to this contract, instead of dropping the firm's name and starting new."

"But you still found them. And more places where they worked on top of it." Marie really is impressed, especially since it only took him one sleepless night.

"You sound – rightfully so – impressed." he smirks. "But it wasn't all my own doing. In addition with the work on finding out more about Solid Structures before you returned from your trip, I've logged in to the AI last night and threw a lot of keywords at it. I asked it to list the private security companies, now and at the time, scientists with lack of, or inconsistencies in their employment,big budget shifts, mostly in small portions, perhaps even consistently booked and other such things."

With all that had happened, Marie finds she has entirely forgotten that James had, of course, worked on the case while she was out of City. Groaning again, she responds to the questioning look her friend shoots her "I can't believe how much the last three days put me off. I didn't even think to ask what you found out while I was gone." She doesn't add that there was another distraction that derailed her thoughts from time to time.

Telling herself to focus obviously didn't help that well, so she starts to think that maybe she should think about handing the lead of the case over to James. Anyone else was out of the question, of course, since the nature of some of the concerned parties can count themselves more or less just lucky to have the both of them keeping quiet for now. Marie trusted her own people, but she wouldn't blame them for freaking out at finding out about Mu and her people. _Shouldn't you be asking yourself why you're not going nuts? Or maybe you already are. _her mind teases her.

"Well, from what you've been going through in just two days, I guess it's no surprise that your mind was wandering, right? Bite into this case and clear your head through work, Marie." Smiling, Marie thanks James for the encouragement and understanding

"So you're not going to try to get me to assign this case to someone else?" she smirks.

Laughing out loud, he dismisses her worry "And having to explain all of the..details to someone else? Too much work." It almost feels like he reads her thoughts, Marie thinks. But she is aware that he would keep an eye on her now. Fussing about her is something he had learned to appreciate early in their friendship, but in the end, it turned out that went both ways. She knows that he's right and normalcy would set back in quickly when she works, especially together with him.

The quiet pause in their conversation makes them both notice a lack of noise from outside of Marie's office. Usually, at this time in the morning, all the officers and other people would come in to work, talk amongst each other and get ready for the day. At the moment, though, it's quiet. Marie gets up to investigate, leaning out of her office's open door. All she can see is diligently working people, their heads practically buried into the files on their desks. Suspiciously few people were even looking anywhere besides their tabletop.

"What's going on with you people?" she shouts into the room. Getting greeted by most of them and then quickly ignored again, she walks over to the officer sitting closest to her office. Standing next to his desk, with her arms crossed on her chest, she taps her foot on the floor, without saying anything. Marie is surprised that the officer resits from reacting for a moment, but in the end, he still looks up at her. "Well, Davis?" she says, in a friendly voice. She sees no reason to be, act or become angry. _So far._

Officer Davis looks to his colleagues, who all do their best not to do the same back. With a defeated sigh, he gives up. "Judge Andrews is coming up any time soon."

While that explains their more orderly behavior, sitting at their desks instead of running around, it is no reason for them to be alert, even on guard, to the point of trying to hide in their work. "That's unusual, for him to come personally, but it's not like it hasn't happened before. So he was angry?" she guesses.

"Not just that." Davis looks to the door to their floor. "He's arguing with the Commander. Shouting at him, really. They were..Your name was mentioned. A few times.." Marie's other eyebrow rose to match and now she turns to look at the door, surprised. Her mind swamped with the previous few days' events, thinking if anything she did should've been reported differently or done in a different manner. But, and after a moment of contemplation she is completely sure, there isn't anything. _Nothing but the request from above._


	51. Chapter 47

At least it would mean that there are news about her warrant, she hopes, walking back into her office, leaving the door open. "Wonder what I did." she mumbles to herself, but James could hear it and looks up to her questioningly. "Andrews is downstairs and probably on his way up. Seems like he's got a problem with something I did." she shrugs.

"Tom?" James mutters, looking caught off guard. "Uh.." jolting out of a moment of thought, he looks up to Marie and before she can comment, he gets up, grabs the few things he had brought with him, as well as the cup and puts the latter away into the sink. "I've got to go." he says, clipped, smiling sheepishly. "I'll be talking with you on your flight to the station. If you're going, that is. If not, I'll see you in my office." he babbles, getting ready to leave as quick as he can.

Marie watches him move about, perplexed, speechless, but only for a moment. "What is wrong with you?" she finally manages. While she rarely had to work with the man, Marie knows Judge Thomas Andrews to be a calm, rational person and even if cross with someone, still adamant about fairness. So, what ever she did, he wouldn't be getting on James' case at all. If anything, she expects he would rush into her office, anger in his entire posture, spot James, politely greet him and only then explode in her face, but never without good reason.

At any rate, James would have no reason to run away from him, which he clearly seems to be doing. She steps in his path, just as he's about to head for the door. He stops, but doesn't look her in the eyes. Scrutinizing him, she waits for him to look at her and realizes what might be happening. "All right," she sighs "what did you bet this time?" She remembers hearing about how the two bet rather frequently, mostly over harmless things, so she doesn't worry now.

"Oh nothing." he says and Marie waits a moment if there is any more coming. Sighing again, she is surprised that he doesn't deny it flat out. "Just..." he looks away again. "You know. Nothing to worry about." and steps around her, heading out this time. "I'll contact you. Good luck." he shouts, without looking back. Marie is left staring and shaking her head. Just a moment later, she can hear him exclaim, clipped and surprised "Oh! Good Morning." without receiving an answer she can make out, or seemingly any at all. The rising murmur around the office outside told her that it isn't the Judge, however.

Added to that, it can't be Judge Andrews if James greets and gets away from the person so easily, so she turns to look out from her door. Just as she steps into the arch of the door, she almost bumps into Mu, who is about to step into her office. "Hey!" she greets, surprised. On impulse, before realizing what she's doing, Marie grabs Mu's arm and pulls the other woman into her office, whispering "What are you thinking! Running around...like..." Drifting off from starting a hushed tirade when she notices that what she expected wasn't there. "Oh." Obviously Mu had changed back before coming to the station, now wearing a clean business suit, looking just like the woman she first met only days ago. _Well, not exactly like it... _Marie feels her cheeks warm quickly.

"I am well enough to transform back and appear in public." Mu explains as if she read Marie's mind, smiling warmly and thus making Marie feel even more embarrassed.

_Of course she wouldn't run around like that..._ Marie's mind provides, unhelpfully. Aloud, she says curt, but subdued "Sure. Of course." It surprises her how used she got to seeing the woman in her altered state in such a short time, expecting it to just be that way all the time. _You forgot that she's been a normal woman the first time you heard about her? _Since forgetting details isn't something she usually does, it annoys her slightly, so she straightens up and motions for Mu to sit at her desk, getting herself back together.

Turning away from Mu and the amused, bewildered stare, complete with raised eyebrow, that follows her on her path back to her office chair. Sitting down and looking at the other woman, still standing in the doorway, Marie notices the thermos flask that she carries. "What brings you here?" she asks, eying the flask, before she looks back up again.

"I was thinking it should be about time that you would get to know where your investigation will lead next." Mu moves from her spot hear the door to sit down in the chair that James had occupied until a few moments ago. She sets the flask on the table and leans back in the chair. Her long, black hair, bound into a thick, intricately woven pony-tail, falls over the backrest. _How did she get that twisted and fastened?_ Marie wonders, but is distracted from that important question when Mu continues "And that, if you are to be on your way soon, I would want to be leaving with you."

"Yeah, about that.." Marie sighs out. "It seems we'll be getting to know what's going to happen in a few minutes." Pointing at the office door, she asks "You may have noticed two people arguing downstairs?"

"No, I did not." Mu looks at Marie questioningly. "In fact, the lobby was rather empty, aside from the officer manning the front desk and an older man, standing, what I believe is at attention, seeming to wait."

That makes Marie wince. _He's got the Commander stand and wait for him?_ "Oh bloody..." she clears her throat "Well, that's just great." and gets up to tidy up a little, picking up a few stray personal things lying around and stuffs them in a drawer of her desk. "Still, there's one silver lining." she stops moving around and looks back to Mu "I am certain Judge Andrews isn't in on it, letting anyone in on it or letting himself get pressured into inaction." Marie notices Mu's reaction to the name, but before she can ask about it, the quiet outside of her office lets the sound of the door into the officers' workspace open and shut precede the person entering into her own office. _Should've opened the blinds..._

A short moment of waiting in near silence later, the tall figure of Judge Thomas Andrews appears in the door frame. "Good morning." he greets, casually, into the room. A smile on his lips, that widens when he spots Mu getting up from her seat. "How nice to see you, Miss Lunastra." The man's behavior, a total opposite from what Davis said only minutes before, sends a shiver down Marie's spine. She chalks up this initial calm as the same behavior she'd expected towards James, now that he's personally greeting Mu.

"It has been a long time. How nice to see that you are well." the other woman shakes hands with the man.

"You two know each other?" Marie asks, rather tentatively, unsure what to expect to happen now.

"Yes." the two answer at the same time and Andrews motions for Mu to continue. "He attended a few negotiations that I made with my company along the years. As legal aid, he did save us from some of the smaller back doors our business partners may have used."

There was a lot less crime in City, especially compared to the last Megacities on earth, and even quite a few settlements on other planets now. Some of those are so bad that military presence, in the form of whole bases are built, manned and maintained. Thought they are, of course, limited to strategic planets, so both support for the war effort, as well as keeping civilians in check could be done. That left a handful of settlements that don't have such supervision, which are now turned into criminal paradises.

There is little that can be done for those places, since people with a lot of influence, and more importantly money had high interest in the areas. So much money, in fact, that they had their own, if comparably small, armies to guard them. They haven't been much of a problem to the general public, nor to any of the settlements so far, though, so, for now, they are left alone.

Marie and Judge Andrews have little to do with problems of that magnitude, though, so they settle for those that arise in City. Of which there aren't too many remaining, so that the services of a judge weren't required that often. That means they – there are about a dozen for the entirety of Home – have to earn their living in other wise on the side and acting as legal aid is one of those things they could do. This also meant that the people working as judges are under strict control, thus far guaranteeing their integrity, and were free to choose other lines of work, for example if they were offered better pay.

With all the time the woman had had on hand, Marie can't exactly imagine that the woman wouldn't have been able to make herself her own legal aid, but before she keeps in mind to ask about the necessity of involving a third party, Andrews himself explains it. "Though she says it like that, it wasn't her I worked for." he grins a her. "I was always on the other side, working for the ones she made deals with. I don't know how she did it, but, without breaking any rules, she managed to get just enough information from me that she could find and close any loopholes herself." he shrugs and, grinning wider, asks Lunastra "Still don't have a legal aid of your own, then?"

Apparently satisfied with the simple shake of the woman's head, Andrews' eyes fix on Marie's. _Here it comes._ her mind provides, but gets disappointed. He still remains calm, takes a small stack of papers from his pouch and puts them on the desk next to Marie. "I can't sign these."

On closer inspection, she can see that the paper on top of the pile is her request for a warrant. And it is signed. At a loss, the only thing she can think of to ask is a simple "Sir?"

* * *

><p>I apologize again for the long delays. I hope I'll get my sh.. together. Next updates a lot sooner, I promise.<p> 


	52. Chapter 48

"Did you know I was planning to retire from Judge duty soon?" Andrews ignores Marie's questioning look, but responds to the shake of her head "Well, you see, I had a lot of preparation done to get to work with one of the biggest companies in this sector of the solar system, a military contractor at that. Not just as a mere legal adviser, but as a partner, since I have personal interest in their work and what it could give even to the public. For that, I have built personal connections with the people they work for and managed to impress, without recommendations needed. Which is not to say that they hurt subsequently."

He walks further into the room, helping himself to a coffee from Marie's machine. Marie herself can only stare and try to follow where the man was going with his speech, but she does notice that Mu doesn't seem fazed at all, nodding here and there, as if she had already heard those parts. "All of this was done under watch from the Clearing Agency, whom you well know closely monitors the few of us Judges, among other things, and does so especially hard when we plan to change jobs." Andrews continues.

"So far they have never found corruption or any other kind of wrongdoings since the installation of that institution and our judicial system." Looking back at Marie sharply, he still smiles, which makes him look somewhat predatory. "It makes me proud to be among those keeping the law right. "

If it were James, Marie would now retort with something along the lines of 'I'm sensing a but coming.', but this time, that option doesn't come further than a short flash through her mind, accompanied by pictures of the likely reaction from the Judge. Instead, she asks politely "Why are you telling me this much, sir?" looking over to Mu, who doesn't seem to be confused by this at all.

"Because you need to know that these people invested huge sums into the station you want to take a look at." he points a finger at Marie. "Because you need to know that I'm now having a conflict of interest. And because you need to know why I can't sign that warrant." Leaning onto a small desk in a corner of Marie's office, he continues "I have worked hard, for two years, to get into contact with and raise the interest of these people. I have invested a lot of my time and money, and they did, too, even more so. And now you go and tell me they're criminals."

"Military contractor..." Marie mutters, a little confused. Leaving aside who, in the end, did sign the warrant, for the moment, she asks "Which 'they' do you mean? The research group, or the security company?" Her hope rises that she may find out more, or anything of value, really, about the researchers and their current activities. It would not only help her approach, but maybe even give reason to hope that Mu might not suffer a personal loss. Though the woman looks rather serene, at the moment, which, to Marie, seems a little disconcerting.

"I mean the science team that's guarded by that mercenary bunch you mention in your report." He pulls out another file from the black synthetic leather pouch and hands it to Marie.

Flipping through it, Marie's eyes grow wider with every few pages. "These are-"

"Yes, it's a list of whom I've been working with, the higher-ups of a new division that's going to start their business on the new station, once that's finished."

Marie stares blankly past Andrews, her mind working over the one name, among a good dozen on the list that immediately jumps out at her. It lists Katherine Hofman as division leader for a new research team, apparently a subsidiary, though it doesn't name to what company. In total, there weren't too many companies working as military contractors, so that would be the least of a problem to find out.

Leaving aside the moral issues Andrews faces, this couldn't have worked out better for Marie. _Still, quite a coincidence that he's involved in this, like this. _she thinks. But sometimes coincidences were just that, and the integrity of the judge was never in question, so Marie hopes this is one of those cases. _He'd know I'd be going through everything anyway, so if his name was there, in a way different from what he says... _"Do you know if there's already any work done up there?" since he should know about details, if he wants to work there, she might as well question Andrews.

Who seems to notice her change to professional attitude, smirking as he answers "There isn't much there yet. At least I haven't been told of anything and haven't found out anything myself. Whatever that may means, considering I haven't the time to look deep." A defeated laugh escapes him "Since I had to read your report to make a decision on the warrant, I see you seem to know more than me already. What seemingly little I know is in the files with the names. Katherin Hofman, being the initiator of the new division, apparently got hired away from some Geo-observatory institute. I don't know why they picked her, but until now, I had no reason to even think of questioning that."

Marie just wants to start explaining her findings on that matter, still begrudging James for not being here to add what he knows, but Andrews is quicker in saying "No matter who or what, when and why, I want this cleaned up." Leaving the files with Marie, he closes his pouch and starts to leave. Before exiting, he adds "I put it on official record that my secretary requested another judge to agree to this, because of the conflict of interest. An friend of mine is one of the few outside people who know I want to work there, so he signed it." Another big surprise, Marie wants to ask why he tells her that, but gets forestalled again "So take your warrant and go check."

Since he's already almost out of her office and obviously not willing to elaborate further, she lets him go with a simple "Yes, sir." if a little bewildered. _I'm feeling too much of that, lately. Ridiculous._

"Thomas is a good man." Marie is startled out of staring at the door by Mu's comment. The smile on the woman's face tells her that didn't go unnoticed. _Didn't say a word the whole time! I thought they seemed to get along well initially. _The sort-of-question in her head must be obviously hanging in the room unsaid, because Mu adds "I do not mind him overlooking me." smiling brighter. "He has never really liked having found his match, especially in a way he cannot understand."

"So you manipulated him, too, then?" Marie asks, a little sharper than intended, cringing internally. Despite everything that had happened already, she still isn't entirely sure that Mu is telling her everything. Trusting her gut, which tells her that Mu is telling the truth since she first met her, is well and good, but some things left her with a slightly nagging feeling. If a person had the ability to manipulate someone into doing whatever, they were usually prone to do so.

The woman seems to take it in stride though. "Even if I were capable of it, I have had no reason to. Words are just as powerful, which is the only sort of manipulation I used when I worked with him. As for you" she focuses on Marie's eyes "I do not begrudge you for having doubts. I would be rather disappointed if you did not have them. Still" she gets upright from leaning against a wall "I suppose that means we can go."

Quietly regarding Mu for a moment, Marie sighs and shakes her head. _Never mind what I think about the mind trick, I know without doubt that...her egg..was..is real. _"Yeah, I guess we can." _I suppose I have to be thankful that she didn't rush off by herself already._ Sighing again, she steps around her desk, switches off the computer and packs up the newly acquired papers, so she can study them during the flight. _And I've got to get James on the line as well. Should be just enough time for getting through all that._

Mu waits patiently for her to finish and when Marie turns to her and says "Alright, let's go.", she picks up the thermos flask and follows Marie out of the office. They're leaving the floor under hooded scrutiny of most of the staff on it, following their almost stomping Captain.


	53. Chapter 49

Requisitioning a marked transport takes very little time, especially when the two of them are met by Marie's Commander at the reception desk and the officer on desk duty suddenly works diligently. When Marie spots him, her first thought was that he'd be pretty cranky, having had to stand at attention, waiting there for who knows how long. But he doesn't look agitated as he approaches them– at least not anymore – nor is the direction he comes them from indicative of him having still been in the vicinity.

Slightly relieved, so she wouldn't have to convince the man when he is cross, she still needs to have it approved that Mu comes with her. She thought about not telling him at all, but some kind of consensus needs to be found, so that anything she finds can actually be used as evidence.

"What are you hoping to find up there, Castaneda?" The commander asks fittingly, stopping his rather rushed approach next to the two women at the reception desk. Marie is just filling out a request for a vehicle, raising her head when being addressed, she can just see him and Mu nod to each other in silent greeting. Silence, lasting a mere moment, and that is broken, when the older man realizes that the other woman is waiting with Marie.

The photo of Mu that is filed with Marie's report doesn't do full justice to the woman in the flesh, so it's understandable that it took a second for him to recognize her. "You're Miss Lunastra." He states thus, greeting her proper by shaking hands, obviously surprised by the strong grip he gets in return, as he's looking down at their hands. "How are you doing?"

Only a bit over a day later, Mu seems remarkably unscathed by the incident that, as Marie had described, the both of them were right in the middle of. So it isn't unreasonable that he looks at Mu with suspicions clearly showing on his face. "I am fine. Thank you for asking."

He would know that Marie does believe Mu, but at the same time he usually trusts her to have her own doubts, until proven true or false. "What brings you here?" he asks and turns to Marie "Did you find anything new?" apparently expecting her to answer for both.

"Well, yes and no. I've found bits about former-and-again employees myself and Judge Andrews just handed me a few files that seem promising, but I haven't had the time to look through them yet. The warrant's signed, so I was about to head out as quick as possible." While talking, she finishes up with the vehicle request and hands it over to the officer at the front desk. "Added to that, Harwing apparently found out some more, but..." Before she could think about how she would explain James' quick disappearance, she reached her current predicament.

At a loss how to tell her superior that her colleague basically fled, for reasons he surely wouldn't like, and didn't tell her what he knows, she shrugs and finishes lamely "He didn't get the chance to tell me about all of it yet." Without a pause, she might even have found herself believable, now she can see the return of the previous suspicious look plain in the older man's expression.

"Right." Apparently putting that aside, he changes topics "So back to my original question: what do you hope to find up there?"

"Since it's still under construction, I doubt I'm going to find any damning evidence. For now, I'm hoping to find some paper trails from the construction workers documents. If nothing else, the name of the company doing the constructing and go from there." Marie takes the receipt and the Flyer's access card the intently listening officer behind the desk reaches over the counter. "After that, I'm going to be heading back down to Newman University, from where at least a small handful of alumni are connected to this, if only by name, so far."

"Alright. Let me know when you need support." he says and turns around to walk away.

Stumped by the offer, as that isn't like him at all, Marie stares at the retreating back of the man, almost forgetting that she still had to inform him about Mu coming with her. _Come to think of it, _she thinks, still looking at where her superior vanished into the elevator,_ this looked like the first sign that he'd been...talked to by Andrews. At least that's what it seems like. _

Nonetheless, he needs to know, so she files a document that allows her to take a civilian to a scene. Usually it would only be used to return to a crime scene with a witness, or even a victim, to examine or relive an incident. Since her plan is comparably and both situations would require that the attender doesn't mess with anything on scene, it will suffice to do it this way. _Just have to make sure she doesn't touch anything. _Marie glances over to Mu, who skims through some pamphlets laying on the desk, apparently sure that there is no question if she's actually coming along.

Handing over the document to the officer, she bids Mu to follow her to the small parking lot behind the headquarter building. From there, they get into one of the Flyers without markings. Announcing right of the bat that they're police doesn't seem very helpful. Still, in the end, Marie would have to say something to that extent, once they'd have to dock.

"Really would have been nice, if I'd been able to find out about the circumstances up there." Marie murmurs to herself. Before James appeared in her office, she talked with Graham once more, in hopes that he knows anything more, but he hasn't been keeping an eye on it. "Means we're heading out into space, without knowing what's going to hit us."

"Is that your gut speaking?" Mu asks, startling Marie out of her thoughts. "Perhaps you should not..jinx it?"

She stops in her unconscious movement to open the door of the Flyer. Looking at the woman next to her, she examines her inner voice and what brought up that thought. "No, not really." Marie smiles at Mu, shaking her head "It's just that, since this whole thing turned much bigger than I could've ever expected so quickly, not knowing what's at the end of the flight doesn't sit quite right. But no bad feeling, so far."

"Good." the other woman smiles back, still not fazed by any of the unknown their headed for, nor Marie's words.

Marie can feel herself get a little concerned about that kind of behavior, her earlier thought, about Mu's emotional state, resurfaces. _Depending on what we might find up there, I just hope she keeps herself together._ The vivid images of the two of them standing on top of the broken rooftop, the snarl and scream from Mu flash through her mind again as well. "Are you...are you all right?" She's not really sure how to approach the topic, since Mu herself hasn't even talked about the incident at all after it happened.

Looking around the small area, surrounded by the headquarter and two other buildings, to make sure there is no one who could listen, Marie tries a different, but direct approach, that she would have never gone with, if it wasn't for the rather telling incident the evening before. "Keeping silent about what happened and being all smiles...You've got me worried here, you know?" Letting go of the Flyer's half opened door, she hesitates for a moment, before putting her hand on Mu's arm. "Are you sure you're-"

In the blink of an eye, Marie finds herself pinned, with her back to the Flyer. Before Marie even realizes there was a movement, Mu's right arm whizzes past her head and slams the Flyer's door behind her shut with a bang. Stumped for a moment, Marie looks half behind her, following the arm's placement next to her. When she turns back to the other woman, the gold in the other's eyes seemingly swirls around again, blurring the thin line the irises turned into. She finds Mu's face very close to her own, this time, the smile is gone. Startled, Marie tries to take a step back, only bumping into the Flyer. Barely restrained anger, very clear in the eyes that don't leave her own, all telling, set in an otherwise expressionless face.


	54. Chapter 50

Standing next to and leaning her back against a storage compartment in the cockpit area of the Flyer, Marie stares out of the vehicle's windows, watching the surface and the clouds of the planet below rush off into the distance, lost in thought. Right in between the scheduled flights, there was a gap large enough to allow her to take the Flyer up into space, without bothering anyone on their regular flights. It's her only little relief in the silence that seems to get louder, the further they get from the planet's surface. Marie doesn't feel awkward or anything like it, but rather at a loss how to conciliate Mu's general behavior with the earlier outburst.

_Sure, she's displayed it before. But she didn't really...look like herself, then._ Marie closes her eyes and sighs, seeing the other woman again, standing directly in front of her – above her, really, considering their rather large difference in height – and, with an eery low grumble of a calm voice, tell her "This is how fine I am." It sent a shiver down Marie's spine then and now again, and had her hairs stood on end, even though there was no fear for her in that moment.

Unconsciously focusing on the reflection in the sturdy Makrolon window in front of her, she eyes the small door to the rear compartment of the Flyer, where Mu... – _Hides?_ – since they left the parking lot at the DS headquarters. Initially, it was obvious to Marie that the woman just wanted to calm down. Now though, especially after the woman's demeanor changed back like switch had been thrown, Marie starts to get worried again. The feeling doesn't stay for long, now that the second time she heard them, she takes them to heart.

Marie never had close, personal experience with the really intimidating type of person, like the usually charismatic evil in movies or the like and neither could she relate such behavior to Mu. The one time it had shown before, on the rainy rooftop, the being that displayed the anger there was so far detached from the charming CEO that it was hard for Marie to remind herself that the two were the same person. Even though it got a lot easier once her normal personality shone through again, back at her own apartment.

Now, however, seeing such strong hints of the same rage in the eyes, hearing it in the low voice of the woman turned human.. "Will it help me to scream and shout? To go off, blinded by my emotions, and try to get back what is mine?" she whispered, eyes closed, slowly leaning closer to Marie, almost touching foreheads. "I might do irredeemable damage, revealing my kind. Perhaps get myself captured." She regains her composure, visibly struggling to do so, and, as if tired, lowers her head and rests it on Marie's shoulder. "I would only lose more than I could recover. My offspring...and your trust."

The memory sends an entirely different shiver down Marie's spine. Sighing, she leans her forehead against the cold window. _It isn't like I thought of her as a feral animal or something. It's just disconcerting that she hides this so well. I'd have locked up a normal human being behaving like that, but at the very least not take her to the possible source of her anger. _Mu didn't assure or promise that she won't go on a rampage, depending on what they find up at the station, instead, when Marie thinks back, she repeatedly displayed that she can keep her composure and be rational about the situation.

When she opens her eyes again, Marie sees Mu stand in the small door, ducking slightly because of its height, observing her. "Welcome back." Marie says, turning around to face the other woman.

"I am sorry it took a little longer this time." Mari would love to tell her to stop apologizing, but she can guess that it helps Mu herself more than if she didn't do it, or worse, get dismissed for it. "I have been meditating." the woman answers Marie's unasked question, though she wouldn't have pressed, if Mu didn't say anything. Walking the few steps further into the cockpit, Mu still can't stand up entirely, so, inevitably, they are face to face again. "I am also sorry for alarming you earlier."

Marie immediately dismisses that, though. "You didn't." Which puts a smile back on the other's lips. Which Marie is staring at while their corners rise, remembering thoughts that were more the opposite of fear, back in the secluded parking lot. _That's rather dangerous in itself. _she thinks and tears her eyes away, up to the now calm golden ones of Mu. Who, naturally, noticed and couldn't let it slide entirely, which shows in a smirk. "That is good." she says, then, seemingly unperturbed.

A moment of silence, not awkward, but seemingly filled with expectation, falls between the two looking at each other. Each time the two of them find themselves in this kind of situation, Marie finds it harder and harder to resist leaning closer and...The distinct beep of the communication system startles Marie, before anything, whatever it might be, happened. She stammers "I-" pointing behind herself with her thumb "I'm gonna get that." _Saved by the bell. Again._

Leaning onto the seat, Marie takes the call and the video screen flickers to life, revealing James, obviously sitting in his office. "You look a like you just did some sports." is his greeting, looking a little surprised. It doesn't help, making her flush a little deeper and glance back behind her, only just stopping herself from turning around completely. Still, it was already enough for James to think his part. "Marie..." he begins to say, but gets cut off.

"Yes, I know." she almost whispers. Just after it's out, she's sure that Mu heard it anyway, since the other woman is only a few steps away from her. The only thing Marie can hope for, is that she doesn't know what that was about. Sighing deeply, she asks "So you're not going to tell me about your problem with Andrews?" smirking at the look she receives and glad that the immediate change of topic works so well.

"Just let this one go, will you?" He almost pleads. But Marie really wants to know what would make him run from what she knows is a friend. At the shake over her head, he sighs. "This and that...you know." he mumbles, avoiding to look at her and seemingly busying himself with something on his desk. "Maybe some beers were drunk. Maybe some bets were made." he drawls out. "Maybe I lost and..." his voice trails off to an inaudible hum. Apparently, though, still loud enough for Mu, who laughs quietly. Glancing back to her, Marie appreciates the good humor back with the woman and turns back to James, rising an eyebrow in silent question.

"Oh, fine!" Turning back to the Monitor, James slaps his hands on his desk in a defeated gesture. "I lost the bet and now I've got to learn knitting." he shouts into the monitor, which, until she realizes what he said, makes Marie wonder if his subordinates outside of his office weren't also able to hear.

When what he said registers, however, she stares at him wide-eyed."That's..." With a groan, she quickly puts that aside, really not wanting to hear or think about where that kind of deal will lead. "I really don't want to know." Shaking her head, she sits down in the pilot seat. "Alright, what haven't you told me about what you found yet? Won't be long until we're at the station."

This time he turns to some paper that he actually wants, clearly relieved, picks it up and holds it in front of the screen. "I'll send this to you in a moment, but I just saw I had this handy. Where I left off before should've been about this: Kathrine Hofman née Bennett, daughter of...let's call him varied investor, single-person conglomerate – Miss Lunastra there should actually know him and perhaps his actual designation in the business – Isaac Bennett." He can obviously spot the surprise in Marie's expression, thus grinning, he continues "Yeah, that guy. The same one who, only a few years ago, made big money with developing military equipment."

"Did he? I knew him by name and a few of his endeavors, but not that." Letting that sink for a moment, Marie thinks over what that means to the investigation. "That's a rather nice loop back, don't you think? I wonder if his daughter told him what she – probably – did back then." Looking back to Mu, she asks "Do you know of him? Maybe even if he was involved back then?"

"I have heard of his work, of course." Stepping closer to Marie's seat, Mu looks over it's backrest to see the picture of the man in question. "A little more in-depth than you would find in your investigation. I do not think his name was ever in conjunction with that project. Nevertheless, he would be the type of person who has both the connections, as well as the gall to make indirect threats to your superior."

Finally Marie had a comment from the woman to overhearing her conversation, without having to ask herself. _Not that I'd forgotten. _"That's rather bold to say. Lobbying is illegal and anyone susceptible under tight control, ever since it degenerated into an irredeemable mess – several times – back on earth. And you're saying he might go as far as threaten high officials of the law?"

"You cannot prevent friends of the family to do the other a favor. Such things that are discussed in private and cannot be controlled. Direct payments, or even ones that leave only small trails, like they existed then, are not the only way to sway the opinion of a person. There are not many people who have his means of influence – and his gall –, but the others of which I know have little to no connections to the business you are now investigating." Thinking for a moment, she adds "What might interest you as well, is that Mr. Bennett is an honorary professor at Newman university. He even held lectures there."

"Attended by his daughter..." Marie mutters, typing away at the computer console next to the video screen, from which James tries to look over to her. "There it is. I thought I'd seen the name recently, just slipped my mind where." She pulls up the curriculum of the then scientist-to-be on the screen in front of her, and with a press of a button simultaneously sends it to the one at James' end. The three of them study the lectures that Hofman attended and how many were held by Bennett, her father.

A moment later, Marie types another set of commands into the computer "Well, that fits wonderfully with this, then." and pulls up the files of what she had found the previous day. "See, he's obviously helped her to get into a long term thing with the university, which allowed her to carry out this research." Next there is a document trail to the formal requests for access to university assets and laboratories from one Isaac Bennett directly to the dean of Newman university. Right beside them appears a short summarization of a few, apparently linked research topics, complete with the names of participants. Among which, for several years, Kathrine Hofman is listed.

Though not just her, as there are three more names that reappear as technicians time and again. Marie and James focus on the then still Bennett family, as they seemed to be pulling the strings at the time, where citations often go back to Hofman's father's own research even further in the past. After a few entries, a third name makes its importance obvious: the head of the faculty they all belonged to.

"So it's all about daddy's influence? At least for her." After a moment of silence between the three of them, Marie turns back to the video screen "Was this the incentive you spoke of that she had?"

"That and lots of money, of course. I just followed a few more strings I'd seen hints of before I went up to meet you and, as it turns out, there really was government funding. But that's only an educated guess by following some of the flow of money. I still need to see if I can find any conclusive trails, but so far, there's nothing I can pin them on. Naturally, though, I would assume that leads to officially overseeing parts of what was happening, even if they didn't show them everything. However, since they – allegedly – " he tries to shoot Mu an apologizing look "used hospitalized military personnel, there also remains the question why they didn't notice sooner."

"Alright. First of all, try to have a talk with the dean and the head of the faculty, see if they can remember anything, or if they might be reluctant to talk." A different signal rings from another computer in front of the pilot's seat and Marie switches on the screen next to the signal lamp that also lit up. "Oh, we're already there." _Time flies... _"When we go back, I'll head down to the Armed Services HQ." And in the back of her mind, she keeps the thought to ask Mu again, where the soldiers that had been used actually came from, since that was something that went under when Mu had relayed her story and started to realize the implications.

Shaking her head, she bids James good luck in his now upcoming hunt for the university staff that may even have already retired._ But, if we're a little lucky, they might not know where Bennett's interests were back then and we can get them to testify later._

"Alright, this is it." she turns to Mu. "Apparently, we're one of the first people of the public to get to see this thing." Taking a deep breath, she adds "Let's hope we'll find something.", to which Mu nods in silent agreement and they both look at the second computer screen, which shows a small spec, growing quickly into the image of the new Space Station.


	55. Chapter 51

"This doesn't look right."

Marie leans closer to the screen, pushing a few buttons to zoom further into the details of the structure of the station. Scanning along its length and height, small windows built into the light gray metal surface reflect occasional strong rays of sunlight, but otherwise the entire structure remains in an eery light, almost washed out by the special alloys used to built these things. What catches Marie's eye, however, is the lack of anything that indicates any activity in or around the station.

While that is normal when the station is finished, everything running on a A.I. controlled system, like the one she had seen again when visiting Graham, this one should still be under construction. What little the media covered about the progress of this said it would only finish at the end of the year, which is still a half year away, with a few more modules planned to add to it until then.

"There should still be a lot of construction workers around, don't you think?" she mutters, slightly unnerved. The screen pans over large scaffolding at one end, spanning over to the other side, where it disappears from their current view.

"Lunch break?" The deadpan answer from Mu makes Marie, and consequently both laugh out loud. But they are both aware that it's already nearing late afternoon, thanks to the flight taking a while. What makes it even more unnerving is the fact that there should be a navigation computer trying to connect with the Flyer, so they can dock. Or, in the case of a private property like this, where Marie expects to find the security company for which she is basically there in the first place overlooking it, the A.I. or an operator should query the approaching vehicle about its purpose.

Neither happens, even as they both get closer, which makes Marie alert and MU follow the images on the screen with a deeply thoughtful look. "So it would seem there is no one here." the tall woman sighs. "Perhaps they discarded this venture, once they took hold of..."

Marie turns around and looks up to the yet again expressionless face of Mu. After a moment, she says "Let's go in and see if there's anything at all." Since the other woman doesn't react at all, Marie sighs and types commands for a manual docking procedure into the computer. The whole maneuver doesn't take long and with a shuddering thud, the Flyer sets down inside an automatically closing hangar bay. The fact that the mechanisms works as intended, yet no one is there to greet them, sends a shiver down Marie's spine. _Don't be ridiculous._

"Well then, let's see what we get." Silently, Mu follows Marie to and out the door of the Flyer. The hangar bay they enter isn't cold, as Marie was expecting, so aside from maintenance functions that grant access to the structure, comfort functions are also working. "Can't be that no one's here, then. That would simply be a waste of money" Looking at Mu, she observes the woman looking around intently, wondering what she sees in the bland hall.

The answer comes when Mu's turns of her head meet with Marie's eyes. Smiling, she explains "I am listening." Though impressed earlier, Marie is frowning at the woman, clearly doubtful, not sure she can believe that Mu can hear anything of significance. The smile vanishes, but there doesn't seem to be much concern for the woman when she says "As you say, we are not alone."

When Mu says that, though, Marie is instantly alarmed and takes her Stun gun from its holster, ready in her hand. "I don't like this." An odd feeling she never had before. Facing a mentally ill person with his stun gun on a low setting was, apparently, one thing. Going into an eery possible-hideout of people who don't shy away from blowing up an occupied house...

Opening the door that leads out of the docking bay, they step out into an intersection of a wide, long corridor ahead and to the left, as well as a shorter one to the right. Lit in what appears to be emergency lighting, blue-white lamps at set intervals shine dimmed light on doorways along the corridor, ahead and left, leading into further rooms. Closest to them, on the left and right of the passage straight ahead, are what appear to be waiting rooms, going by the door inside of them labeled Security Check. Through those, visitors and probably personnel would have to circumvent the large security glass door that prevents direct travel through the corridor.

Right now, though, hat door is still open and from behind it, as far along the corridor the two of them can see, more construction equipment and cases and piles of material line the walls, with just a rather small path through the middle. "Seems just abandoned." Her own muttering sounds like a shout into the silence and Marie feels she has to concentrate so she doesn't spook herself. A small laugh escapes her over that thought. Looking back to Mu, she seems to understand where that came from.

The woman herself, while shooting Marie a small smile, is intently listening to their surroundings. "At the moment, I cannot hear movement, as I did before." Instead of easing Marie's worries, even though she is trying to get herself to think that perhaps Mu had heard wrong earlier, that statement just makes it worse.

"I'd say stay behind, but you won't do that, would you?" Marie tries to see as much as she can, in every dark corner, behind every stack that's in their way, as they slowly make their way through the main corridor. Luckily, it seems the majority of the many rooms on either side of the path are empty and provide no places to hide for potential threats, which she still expects around every corner. They could only go straight ahead for about a hundred meters, where the corridor opened up to a large room. It is filled with palettes of construction equipment, only a narrow path leading past a few disabled worker-bots, looking rather menacing, fully or half-covered by thick plastic sheets.

The comment doesn't seem to merit answer, as Mu remains quiet, so they enter the room and from there they can see that it splits into several paths in every direction. Going by the outside dimensions of the station, the two to each side could be well over a kilometer long and even longer for the two that lead further ahead. Thankfully there is a rough map of the place, apparently a simple guide for the working crew, on a table in this reception hall, which Marie assumes will be the function of the large room.

Half of the corridors that they haven't walked through yet are unlit, leading, according to the map, to high security laboratories on the left from the entrance and in turn lit control rooms and maintenance facilities to the right. Further up ahead they would find rooms for the administration on the right path and lower security labs and testing facilities, the purpose of which the map doesn't specify, on the left.

"Well, where do we go from here? I'd say the control room first, getting a message out that we're not alone, but obviously not welcome." Marie looks up from the map and regards her still silent companion, remembering that the woman had previously told her something about being able to sense a presence. "Do you know if it's here? Your egg?"

"Yes, it is." Mu seems to snap out of rather intense focus, which Marie can easily understand, when their goal is this close. Apparently that is yet another thing that's easy to read in her expression and earns her the response "I will not rush off." Though, somehow, even though she is the one with a weapon, Marie doesn't think the woman couldn't fend for herself. A thought that makes her realize that she, subconsciously, already expects forceful resistance. From whom, though, is something that starts to really worry her a lot.

So when they start to make their way to the control room, stepping around the stuff lying around, it doesn't help when Mu mentions "People are moving again." and, still showing no worry or any emotion for that matter, adds with a nondescript smile "A half dozen, rather heavy."


	56. Chapter 52

Marie's unease grows, making her almost feel like a paranoid when she looks behind even the smallest stacks of pallets around them. It eases her worries a little when they enter the control room, an easily manageable enclosed space. They find running computers and, most importantly, a communication station. Sitting down in front of it, ignoring the computers for now, she puts on the set of headphones with a microphone and tries the station. The laser transmitter signals seem to work, as, to her surprise, the first thing she receives when she switches it on is the channel she wants to connect to. "This is monitoring the police station's signal."

Because the officially tagged Flyer they used to come here had, when they approached there to land and launch up here, recorded and sent the conversations with the space station on the planet back to the District Security station by default, which leads to her to the obvious conclusion "They, whoever that is, knew we'd come." She resists the urge to look behind her, but she can't suppress the shiver that crawls down her spine.

_That, however, still leaves the question of why it's empty up here. Almost feels like it's been planned, but...that would mean a leak? James and Sornton are the only ones who knew early enough to plan anything. _Looking at Mu, she decides that there isn't a possibility that Sornton would've warned these people. _It would be bad for him just as much as for us. _Still, the thought makes her sigh in unease at what to believe.

Trusting in Mu, even without words, that she would warn her when there is anyone approaching the room they occupy, Marie concentrates on sending a message to the operator at the station back in City. She is sure that the Commander won't like to hear the circumstances for the request for backup at all, which is why she tells the operator that she'd be heading on to investigate further, declining the offer that the operator would fetch their superior.

_Maybe not the best idea...?_ her mind provides the words to her feelings. Marie doubts she is making a weighted, professional...sane decision at the moment – a cause for concern, adding greatly to the still growing discomfort of not knowing what kind of situation, what kind of opposition she's heading for. But the urgency of the situation, the other woman's possessions being in the vicinity, continues to remind her of the promise she made to Mu.

Once finished explaining their situation, as well as having asked for backup, she puts the headphones back down. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to get here without backup in the first place." she mutters, again well aware that Mu would hear. So, turning around to the woman standing at the door, looking out, she adds "But there was no reason to suspect to find this, now was there.", feeling a little silly.

The warm smile Mu regards her with, it being finally a hint of emotion and full awareness again – not that Marie doesn't appreciate the focused attention to otherwise unexpected guests – lets her relax a little again. "It would have been strange to assume anything but normal circumstances." While she manages to keep her voice calm, Mu can't hide her tension entirely, looking around every now and then, making Marie believe the woman really struggles to not just run off. _Better hurry, then._

"All right." Marie says, trying to sound more optimistic than she feels. The computers that seem to be controlling many parts of the station, going by the various displays, don't offer much help. Marie tries to find some way to get the thing to tell her about what's going on on the station, hoping for some kind of motion sensors to tell her where the people Mu hears are located.

The system's strong security locks her out of nearly every function it would offer and even the access forcing mini computer that every police member on duty carries with them can't penetrate the defenses. "Damn." The fact that a setup like that would be illegal seems rather unimportant to Marie at this point, but that doesn't stop her from filing it away mentally. _Get them with as much as possible_. Turning to Mu, she wants to ask the woman if she could get around the security, but in the end, that wouldn't really help them, seeing how they couldn't take the screen with them.

Getting up, Marie goes to join Mu near the door, where she still stands and listens. Taking a deep breath, her grip tightening on the stun gun, Marie places a hand on Mu's shoulder, the other woman glances at the hand, then meets Marie's eyes. "Let's go." she says and stares out into the empty, desolate hallway that will lead the two back to the main hall. Remaining silent, Mu puts her hand over Marie's, nodding in agreement.

The longer they walk, or rather sneak through the empty corridors, the more noticeable becomes the creeping cold to which the environmental systems were apparently set. At least that's what Marie tells herself is the reason for the many shivers that run down her spine, whenever they take yet a turn into yet another dark area. Marie is really unsure what she could say, to keep up even a short, if whispered conversation. To distract herself more than anything.

So, since they're both staying quiet, the sounds of their surroundings start to appear increasingly louder and, even though Marie knows and keeps telling herself it's just because she gets more and more used to the quietness, it doesn't make her feel any better.

Both of the areas designated as Security Laboratories present only nearly empty rooms, only a handful of large pieces of equipment, scientific machinery as it seems, standing on pallets, covered by plastic sheets. Loose wiring protrudes from two of each room's walls, as well as segments where door controls are likely to be placed later. The two corridors that are branching off from the main hall are interconnected by wide passages at certain intervals, making it easy to scout them out in one go, as well as keep a good view on anyone approaching.

There hasn't been any hint of anyone else's presence, at least nothing that Marie could determine. Not even any leftovers from the work crew that should be here right now. All the tools and machinery had obviously been neatly packed away some time earlier. _Perhaps it's just a tidy crew..._

The thought almost makes her laugh out loud, having to suppress a Mu's statement that they aren't alone, however, makes her feel increasingly like she's being followed, or eyes she can't see are following her every step.

Going by the security system that she tried to access, the latter part doesn't seem to be that far out of the question, making her assume that there's a secondary security station from which they are observed at every moment. "Wish they'd just get it over with." she mutters.

"I am not sure I agree." The response jolts Marie, not aware that her thought slipped out voiced. It does make her realize of how jumpy she's become at every sound that doesn't fit the low, almost unnoticeable rumble of the station's systems running. "Despite that, I do believe it is inevitable that your request will be fulfilled." Mu adds, pointing at the main hall just up ahead, from which they would get through the last possible area on the station. Put like that, it is obvious that Mu is right, since the next two corridors, leading to the administration and other labs, as the construction plan tags it, are the last they haven't been through yet.

Which only makes Marie realize how small the station actually is, when it is empty and looking through it isn't prolonged by circumventing objects or personnel that doesn't like them being present, all of which she had expected. And, if she is honest with herself, very much prefer to the claustrophobia inducing empty halls, with only thin walls separating them from the coldness of outer space. A thought that makes the cold within almost unbearable.

On the other hand, looking at the time, she is relieved to see that quite a bit of time passed already, which should put the backup that much closer. "Maybe we should wait for backup to-" They are just about to round the corner to step into and then cross the main hall, when, just ahead, a clearly audible grunt of physical exertion cuts Marie's proposal short.

Just half a second later, in the corner of her eyes, Marie glimpses the movement of something big, rapidly approaching her at the height of her head.


	57. Chapter 53

In the split second that her mind takes to guess that the approaching object would result in a painful collision with her, Marie is yanked backwards, feeling only a light draft from the object whizzing by, from left to right in front of her face. The impact on the wall to her right side, however, is clearly noted, not just by the loud, metallic banging sound exploding so close to her ears, but also by sharp splinters of debris hitting her all over.

When she opens her eyes again, closed in reaction to the object closing in on her face and the strong pull backwards, she immediately focuses on the giant hammer, usually used by the workbots, embedded in the wall. Her gaze following the thick handle further up, instead of unconsciously expected robotic extremities, huge human hands, unhealthily veiny, are already pulling at the thing again, dragging it out of the wall with sickening, creaking and squealing sounds.

"What the-" Before she can instinctively look back to Mu, she can feel strong, sharp claws dig lightly into the skin under her clothes. Looking down, she finds the lithe, turquoise, darkening to blue skin on the arms holding and still pulling at her. She doesn't have much time to evaluate the implications, another grunt makes her look back to yet another possible attack. In slow motion, her overloaded mind processes the movements of the attacker as if they're moving in molasses.

As she's being dragged further back into the corridor, the space seems to have gotten thankfully too narrow for the giant hammer to swoop down on her. That doesn't seem to stop the one swinging the hammer from trying, where the heavy thing first puts a dent in the ceiling, then scrapes heavily and leaving much damage along the other wall to her left. The hulking presence behind the fast approaching hammer registers in Marie's mind, though not yet a clear picture of the person, the shadowy blur seems to dwarf her and even Mu in comparison.

The tip of the Hammer leaves a trail of destruction in their surroundings, but this time at least it doesn't seem to be headed for her head. She doesn't have the time to guess where it might impact, not even to duck instinctively, as she's still being held. She does feel the strong tightening of the hold from the arms around her, however, bordering on painful itself. The sensation doesn't last long, a powerful push to the side slams her and Mu – who, as she finally realizes, is obviously the one holding her – into the wall to their right.

Marie feels a lot of impact force, but little pain. Still, it makes her a little dizzy, and she has to take a second to collect herself. Finally regaining her balance, even though kneeling half crumpled on the floor, she notices the absence of the arms holding her. Turning around and looking behind her, she can see a few dents in the wall that are uncannily shaped like human extremities – head, shoulder and arm, it seems.

The woman that was just behind her is missing there, Marie's head whips back to look around and find her. Which she does, just in front of her. Mu, transformed yet again, the wide wings blocking Marie's view on the attacker, has one hand on the handle of the hammer, a hand span away from the attacker's hand, seemingly holding it in place. Slowly getting up, Marie gets a clearer view of the shade of the attacker, visible through the wings' membranes, indicate a person at least a head taller than even Mu and twice as broad.

Staggering slightly to hold herself upright, watching the apparent stalemate, Marie becomes aware that she's winded and starting to get quite sore from the impact, so she tries to get a few deep breaths. Inching slightly backwards, holding herself up on the wall, ignoring the indentations and their implications, she tries to get a better view on the hammer swinging assailant. Once he is in full view, Marie feels her legs falter, fear shooting through her at the towering abomination wrestling over the hammer with Mu. _What in the world __**is **__that..._ she stares, wide eyed, slowly sinking to her knees.

The man, or what appears to have been one, looks like a severely pumped up giant, scarred all over the visible skin, looking out from under the ridiculously stretched clothes. His face void of any signs of sentience, his eyes dead, not even looking directly at what he is doing. A caricature of a drug victimized sportsman, the size and apparent build of a workbot, blocking almost the entire corridor ahead. Sick, is the word that comes to Marie's mind, inhuman, when, somewhere in the back of her mind, she is reminded that this might be the result of what Mu explained about the experiments that had been done.

It is nearly impossible for her to see the thing in front of Mu as something that had once been a human being. A slight relief, perhaps. In the moment of illusory calm, where neither of the two is moving, Marie moves over to the other side of the corridor, staring in fear, but also captivated by the other woman holding the monster in check.

_Monster_, Marie thinks, a hysterical laugh trying to escape her, regarding Mu, finding all the humanity that's missing from the attacker in the surreal image the woman herself presents. Sharp teeth showing in an angry snarl and comparably tiny arms taut, sinewy – aesthetic, Marie muses absentminded – muscles moving slowly beneath the white skin and the resulting fascinating display of the scales on the arm twitching, in seeming synchrony with the wings, ever so slightly.

The moment of intense focus, where Marie could register all the minute details, is broken, when the hammer's wooden handle snaps with a loud, explosive crack. Receiving the heavy tip, Mu loses her balance, flapping the wings in two powerful strokes to regain it. Meanwhile, the hulking attacker remains upright, solidly in his place, already lifting the remaining piece of wood to renew his attack, the handle without the tip being a formidable staff weapon in itself.

Though the attacker seems to lack the finesse to wield it as such, using it as a simple, blunt club. Finally Marie realizes she's got to act more on common sense, and a little of her training. Shaking her head to try and clear it, Marie gets up to reposition herself a little further away, regrouping. Standing up proves to be quite an effort, her legs still lack feeling. Grunting slightly herself, she manages to get upright, inching away from the two fighting.

Mu seems to be on the offensive, actually looking like she's able to push the attacker, but she can't avoid taking some heavy hits, aimless as they may be flailing, the thick arms of the giant still pack a punch when they connect. Hammering the attacker's chest with clearly powerful blows of her own, Mu doesn't seem to be able to do much damage. Marie is sure, from the looks of it as much as the sounds of the hits connecting, that any normal human being would have long been on the floor, most likely dead with severely broken chest structure.

Slowly, but surely, Marie regains her equilibrium, as much as possible with the nearly unfathomable scene playing out in front of her. After a moment, she realizes that she has a good vantage point to put the almost forgotten stun gun in her right hand to good use. Looking at it as if seeing it for the first time, she raises it and takes aim. Her arms can't keep the weapon straight and for the first time in her career, for the first time in her life, she realizes she is terrified.


	58. Chapter 54

Leaning with her back against the wall dividing the two adjacent corridors, Marie slowly slides down, until, eventually, she sits on the floor. The fight is over.

In hindsight, it happened so fast, her mind and memories barely manage to keep up. Yet in the moments it happened, time seemed to stand still. Now she is left to stare at Mu's back, hunched over the monstrous body of their attacker laying at her feet. Slowly, the mental pictures line up in her mind, emerging an order that starts makes some sense.

Looking down the weapon in her lap, she can see herself again, trying to find an opening large enough for her to take a shot with the stun gun. _After a moment, the opportunity arises, when Mu staggers from catching a thrust from the hammer, almost toppling over, but leaving the hulk's side wide open. Marie takes the shot, hitting the man square in the chest, just as he is lifting for another strike._

_It takes a second for Marie to realize that the shot seems to have no effect. At least not the desired effect of taking out the attacker. Instead, the man lands the swinging hammer squarely on Mu's side, her arm, catapulting her into the other wall, where she crumples to the floor._

_Disbelieving, uncomprehending, Marie can only stare as the man turns toward her. She can't tell if he's aware of what he's seeing, his washed-out brown eyes seem empty, dead. The eyes don't seem to be pointed at anything, they especially don't seem to be looking directly at her, despite the fact that he's clearly starting to approach her. She notices minute details like that, between looking from unmoving Mu to him and back, again and again. _

_Snapping out of her dazed staring, Marie raises her gun again, shooting once more. But it still doesn't appear to have any effect. The distance between the two of them is already very short, but trying to take a step back, she immediately feels the wall behind herself, blocking any evasive action. Frantically, she tries to take another shot, but a huge hand wraps around the gun and easily rips it from her grasp. At the same time, another hand slowly closes around her throat and neck._

_Many thoughts run through her head, but none of them are coherent enough to help her. Kicks and punches she tries to throw out, barely even reaching their target on the outstretched arm, do little to no damage at all. The strained muscles in her neck quickly prove useless against the tightening fingers, closing, unstoppably, like some kind of machinery._

Marie's stare follows Mu's back as the woman gets up from her kneeling position. She has to force herself to not notice and focus on the liquid dripping from the talon like fingers hanging at her side. _Strangely inane thoughts, if not much coherent, rushed through Marie's mind as it becomes impossible to take the next breath. For some reason, she doesn't panic at the prospect, though certainly not accepting her fate just like that. She wants to fight back, tries to, but strength leaves her quickly. _

_Her view wanders past the huge body in front of her, fixing on where Mu should be laying, knocked out cold as Marie expected from the apparent force of the last blow. Instead she finds huge golden eyes fixed in apparent horror on herself. The fearful expression quickly vanishes, turning into bright anger. The swirling gold is almost covered by the narrowing eyes, a fierce snarl emerges and in the blink of an eye, Mu propels herself toward what would, very soon, be Marie's murderer._

Lost in memory, unconsciously repeating the action as she relives it, Marie blinks and movement from Mu makes her focus back on the now, as the other woman turns to her. The golden eyes are static again – not that they ever weren't – even with the changing light as Mu approaches. But her anger is obviously still simmering. Intense eyes fixed on her tell Marie that Mu is fully conscious, unlike the small, haunting brown pair that didn't really see her earlier. The intensity with which she is regarded as Mu slowly walks closer, sends a shiver down her spine. Marie starts to wonder if the woman's target fixation has already worn off.

_Perhaps the quick movement of Mu is blurred by her own circumstances, perhaps Mu really moves that fast, but Marie is close to being unable to discern between the two. But, in what is perhaps a last moment of clear mind, or so the thought swims through her mind, she can suddenly clearly see what is happening._

_The giant's mouth opens in a gargled, muted attempt at a scream._

Fascinated, Marie's eyes follow the two small trails the droplets still leaving Mu's hands form on her short approach. The artificial lighting gives the deep red dots a strange blue shine on their top. Looking back up, she stares right into Mu's eyes, who now kneels in front of her, unmoving. What feels to Marie like a long moment passes and Mu lifts her right hand, slowly. "Are you hurt?"

Only the next drip of blood from Mu's hand snaps Marie out of their mutual stare and makes her flinch noticeably. _The grip around her throat loosens, instinctively she gasps for a deep breath, but immediately forces herself to assess the new situation. Who knows if this is her last chance to get away. Looking up to where her overloaded mind tells her Mu would be found, perhaps instinctively searching for help, she finds the woman somewhat comically clinging to the back of the giant. But Marie is taken aback by the fierce display of anger on the woman's face. Though not directed at her, it seems, as Mu is looking at her the back of the man's head. Marie's view travels down the clearly strained arms, to where Mu's hands would be to hold herself up. _

_It takes a moment for Marie to realize what the sight of the clawed hands, sunk deep into the man's neck, mean. _

_At least it explains the mangled scream._

Mu must have seen Marie's reaction, her hand stopping the approaching motion. Tearing her eyes away from it, Marie is shocked to see hurt surprise in Mu's expression. The whole situation before was nearly overwhelming, but seeing Mu look at her with that pained expression manages to quickly clear her head. Her mind scrambles for something to say, to reassure that – of which she is certain – it isn't Mu who's making her slightly queasy. Rather the fact that this is the first time she ever saw such a display of violence, never mind the grotesque adversary. The images of Mu being hit so hard, that she lay unmoving on the floor, still won't leave her head.

Failing to find the words and not wanting to have to awkwardly explain the reason for her reaction, Marie grabs Mu's hand, still hovering in front of her, with both of hers. Instead of being startled, Mu regards her with a questioning look. Somehow, it makes Marie ignore the blood that's now on her hands as well. Reaching out like Mu did, she touches her cheek. Mu's clawed fingers wrap around Marie's still holding it and she leans into the touch, now a caress, but still seems very unsure. _Hurt her, confuse her...myself as well, though. _Marie really doesn't like that look much better than the previous, so gently she tugs on Mu's head, leaning closer herself as well. They both slowly close their eyes and lean in to meet with a kiss.


	59. Chapter 55

Staring at the three monitors in front of him, he taps his fingers impatiently. The other hand runs over his short cut hair, accompanied by a groan of frustration. The three people he wants to be observing are currently out of the view of the station's camera setup. At the very least, he knows the reason, which is that the cameras don't cover every inch of the corridor. A person walking either way would soon pop up on the next feed, three of which are lined along the walls, one between each of the laboratories' entrances.

There was no reason to add more cameras than that during planning, then again, even then no one could have anticipated this turn of events, no matter how much his boss's employer seemed to know about this Lunastra woman. So it isn't like the station was built in expectation of the kind of work he is supposed to perform. Nevertheless, it made no sense to him, though, that the camera positions are fixed onto the entrances to the laboratories, without the function to turn them. Then again, if anyone would make it this far into the station, they're either cleared for it or...well, the other possibility really isn't worth pondering.

Still, he could see one of the soldiers on the camera pictures. Dead, as it seems, to his disbelief. The puddle forming around the thing's head makes it obvious though. He got up from the chair in front of the computer station, pacing up and down the room, unsure how to proceed. It isn't like he is overly concerned, just that the pacing allows him to think more clearly. Still, he hasn't been able to see how the soldier was taken down. The strange wounds on its neck weren't indicative of any weapon he knows of that could have been used. That is an unknown factor he doesn't like at all.

"First things first." He still wants to capture Lunastra, it's why he was hired and he will fulfill the contract. Not knowing what exactly is going on, however, is a bad start. They obviously took down one of the soldiers, so he isn't entirely sure if it's a good idea to just send more. Usually that kind of plan doesn't work at all or ends unfavorably, worst case with the target dead.

But taking too much time to think about it could mean the targets may flee. He knows that one of them is with the police. Which makes him assume, as surveillance in the control rooms would be redundant once the station runs, so he didn't see what they were doing in it, that they called for backup. With no idea how close that backup might already be, he decides to go out himself. Turning to the other three soldiers, standing motionless along the wall next to the doorway out of the room, he instructs two of them to go ahead of and one to trail a short distance behind him.

He arms himself with the stun gun that he had placed next to the computer console and opens . Walking along the corridor toward where he expects to meet the two women, his thoughts run circles around the wounds in the thick neck of the dead soldier. Unconsciously, now and again he rubs is own throat, thinking about how to protect it. But he dismisses the thought, as he hasn't brought a full armor with him, it wouldn't be of much use to just protect the neck.

Somehow he feels out sorts on his current task. He's sure that it's the lack of information given to him by their employer, as much as it is because of splitting up their usual team. They only formed a team whenever big jobs needed doing, but for all those, they were together. Except this time. Being a mercenary, he obviously follows the most money he can get, which is exactly what he did here. But hearing about what his usual colleagues had been up to over the past few days, without being in contact with them himself...

He couldn't help but think this was one of those big jobs and he only plays a small role in it. Of course, he is well aware that his part and that which his colleagues play belong to the same scheme, but without being told much, he doesn't know to what end they do the things they do. In the end, it doesn't much matter, as long as there are sufficient zeros, in the right places on his payment confirmation. Still, aside from the business woman, capturing – kidnapping – a police officer in itself is not something to be taken lightly.

He has even been given the _authority_ _to dispose of the officer,_ if need be. Something he had not expected to hear in his career, considering the reputation of the people he usually works with. Also something he wouldn't pursue. _Not in my nature. _Snickering at that thought, because he'd intimidated people well enough into thinking they might as well die, if he didn't get what he wanted, it is a good thing that only the employers ever know that they, he and those he works with, wouldn't go that far. _Wouldn't be much intimidating done, if they knew I have morals. Few and far between, but..._ Shaking his head to get rid of that strange train of thought, he laughs quietly.

With noting certain, he heads into the main hall. In contrast to the two soldiers just a few steps ahead of him, he is already silently moving from cover to cover, in anticipation that the two surely would have left the hallway they were in last he's seen.

–

"You are shivering" Mu whispers into their embrace. Leaning back, she moves to cup Marie's face with her hands, halting when she realizes they're still red, though mostly dried now. Distraught at first, she is surprised when Marie takes both her hands with her own, holding them between them.

"I'm fine. Again." looking at their intertwined hands, Marie smiles. She seems reluctant to say something more. Taking a deep breath, she admits "I was..I am scared." _Who would have thought it's that hard to admit, when you've just been scared stiff minutes ago?_ "This is...We've trained for physical confrontations. Fights and all, shooting, apprehending. I'm quite a good fighter, you know?" Stopping herself babbling, she glances over to the dead body. "But this?" Shaking her head, she tries to resist the urge to rub her throat, which still feels sore.

"You saved me." now realizing, if late, what Mu had done, she looks at their hands again " You killed him." Marie doesn't know what to think about the fact itself and that Mu seems to be unperturbed by the act.

"Yes. I have." A fitting response to both, Mu looks saddened, stroking Marie's cheek. "I have seen what these" she points behind her "have gone through to become..." Unable, or unwilling to give a name to what they see, Mu is still seemingly debating to say more. Leaving it at that, as if it , "You are important. To me." cupping Marie's cheek again, she leans in for another kiss. Unexpected, so soon, but hardly unwelcome, Marie reciprocates, her forehead resting against Mu's cool head plate.

Their difference in nature, albeit she is sure it should, doesn't come to her mind at all. She enjoys the sensations of all the touches, the soft lips on hers, the slight scrape of the sharp teeth on her lower lower lip. All of Marie's unease, questions and fear vanish for a moment. As does the inappropriateness of what happens between them in the situation they're in. But, for the moment, she doesn't mind at all. "I wanted to do this for quite a while." Marie can only agree with the woman. Looking at her, breathing deeply, she feels she's lacking the ability to form fitting words at the moment, so she just nods.

"And I would like to see where it may lead us in the future. However" The smile that lightened Mu's expression so much just vanishes in an instant. But the caressing hand doesn't leave Marie's cheek, stroking lightly, almost seeming to be an unconscious movement. That makes it slightly harder for Marie to concentrate on matters at hand, but even before Mu says anything, Marie is sure she won't like the words that come next. "the remainder of our greeting party is heading this way." Leaning their foreheads together again, Marie sighs, deeply, a shaky breath. _See? I knew I wouldn't like it._


	60. Chapter 56

Mu's comment manages to pull Marie back to the harsh reality. Glancing over to the body, lying a little away from them, a lot of thoughts and questions enter her mind. For the moment, however, she can only hope to remember any at all later on. "Are you sure it's not the cavalry?" Marie asks, but doesn't let her hope rise. So she isn't disappointed when Mu shakes her head.

Despite the sense of urgency the comment elicits, Marie can only stare in wonder when the woman in front of her changes back to the – to her amazement – equally familiar brunette. As Mu's features shift, Marie reaches out to touch. Her hand still in its movement, when Mu looks at her intensely. A tiny nod has her reach further, holding her palm against Mu's cheek. She is sure there would be different, much stronger sensations to be felt on the headpiece, but she resists the urge to find out about them during their current predicament. While their kiss sure was intimate, she feels that to be a whole other level of trust. Her heart leaps, realizing Mu had just offered her that. It is still misplaced to explore at the moment.

She could deal with a lot – a point that was just now much more supported – or so she thinks. But both what they have to face – again, and never mind more at once – and the new complications of her impulsively acting out her heart's desire, are quite confusing. Especially when clashing together at the same time. "Well." Marie takes another deep breath, sitting upright again and moving to get up. She is trying to get herself to focus on thinking of a way to get past the opposition without meeting them in a fight

"Can you tell if we can make it of this corridor?" Marie asks, getting up to look around.

With nothing to see, she walks over to the intersection in the wall a little behind their position and takes a cautious peek around the wall, when Mu says "I would not advise to head toward the main hall. They will be here quick and I will rather believe they will split up and search both alley, rather than be guess they might not." While she talks, Mu walks up to Marie and takes her by the arm. Marie looks from the touch up to the apparently calm woman's face and, for a moment, wonders if Mu has her polar opposite demeanor completely under control.

She immediately hates the thought, be it that it may have come to her from a professional point of view, or a simple human reaction to the woman's behavior. _She showed she's fully capable of keeping herself under control twice now. No need to doubt her. _Still, Marie disliked even that train of thought, as it usually ended in an infinite loop and made it feel like she would have to convince herself.

Time isn't on their side, however, so she is thankful for another thought that comes up when she thinks of control. "Wasn't there..." she mutters to herself. Mu, of course, hears it and looks at her questioningly. It takes Marie a second to realize that and with a sheepish grin, she says "Let's go in that..lab or whatever it is." This time it's her turn to tug the arm that holds her along, further up the hallway, stopping at the entrance of the laboratory they peeked into earlier.

"Okay, good, there it is." Though quite a bit more confident with the new possibility she thought of, Marie is still looking around time and again. If she were in Mu's place, she could easily see herself fidget, probably attributing it to fear. In the bleary light of the emergency lighting, Mu can only see a few heaps of construction material and a large, white canvas. She moves over to a console looking for access to full lighting, but thinks the better of it and considers the current state as an advantage.

Would Marie be looking at Mu, instead of around the lab, while walking up to the canvas thrown over something large, she would see that the woman watches her curiously. With a flourish, Marie pulls the canvas off of what Mu recognizes just before that, finally taking a look at the object, rather than Marie. "A workbot." she states, surprised.

"Right." Rummaging around behind the big, yellow thing, Marie pulls out a small device and mutters "With this, I can..." stopping when the cable is stuck and she has to exert some force on it to tug it free. Finally having both the cable and the device at its end in her hands, she tries again "With this, I can control this thing." tapping her knuckles against the workbot.

"You know how to operate it?" Now it is Marie's turn to look surprised at Mu, who walks the few steps into the room, stopping next to the robot that is a head taller than her.

"You don't?" Marie asks. "I thought you build these things." and, even before she finishes the thought, she remembers that Mu does all sorts of business ventures, hardly having the time to personally build those robots in a factory. Which, in turn, reminds her of the fact that Mu already had several lifetimes to do something of the kind. A very unwelcome direction of her thoughts, especially after what had happened between them in the corridor just moments ago, Marie decidedly pushes that problem to the back of her mind. _Better not forget it, though. _her mind teases.

And Mu confirms her "No, I cannot operate them. I merely facilitate the building process."

"Yeah, I just remembered." Clearing her throat, she puts her concentration back on the device in her hands, holding it up for Mu to look at. "A remote. These things should be really strong, so I hope I can do something against...whoever is going to be coming through that door now." She assumes that Mu would warn when these new attackers were right at the door, but it couldn't be that much longer anyway. The station is big, but not that big.

Accordingly, Marie already starts operating the workbot's controls, relieved to find it operational. The general state of the construction around the place had her worried for a moment. Now that the robot moves, she assumes that their attackers had previously vacated the workers for the day. Or rather their employer, as she considers the hulks to belong with the mercenary group. Controlled by or whichever it may be, she will have to find out later.

Thankfully, the machine is near silent, the unwieldy looking thing deliberate in its movements, so it doesn't even produce loud steps. Under her guidance, the sturdy robot walks over to the door, the only entrance to this room. _Not much more of a dead end than the alley outside, I guess. _Once in position, having watched Marie's progress closely, Mu confirms "They are only a moment away."

"It's really a game of chance here, you know..." Marie whispers, sounding worried, which Mu can understand, feeling the same. The workbot does move rather sluggishly. However, both think it likely that they would send one or more of those hulks in first. And when the previous one didn't have a weapon in his hands, he, too, moved rather slowly. "I have no contingency plan, or any idea what to do after – that is if I can, of course – I catch the first one. But it's still more than we had in the hallway, isn't it." Marie isn't sure who exactly she's trying to comfort with that comment.

At that moment, Mu perks up, looking toward the entrance to the laboratory in intense concentration. A moment later, a small smile appears on her lips and she turns back to Marie "The docking bay doors have just opened. There is a ship proceeding to land."

_Backup! _Marie sighs deeply in relief, catching herself before getting too excited. "Let's hope they're on our side." Though she thinks it unlikely that there would be more attackers coming. She assumes they would have been much closer behind them. "That means we _only _ have to stave these off for a bit." Another small laugh without humor escapes her. She turns to look at a computer console behind her, let in into the wall she's leaning on. _Do I still have the time...? _"How long?" she thinks and asks at the same time.

"No half minute." Mu responds, seeing what Marie is looking at. "I already looked for communications in here." she tells her. Marie assumes it was when she was busy with the canvas and workbot underneath that. "They are disabled for within the station."

It would take her too long to find a way to send a message directly to that landing ship anyway, but hearing that still makes Marie sigh in frustration. Their chances to get out of the situation are slimming by the minute, which Marie is keenly aware of. She is sure she will berate herself for not planning this trip more carefully, instead of heading into it gung-ho. Still, it she is sure that she will be able to disable at least one of the attackers, four of which Mu indicates are approaching their position. She doesn't want for Mu to have to get physical with another. That means she has to think of a way to attract the attention of the new arrivals.

Their waiting makes it feel like ages, but it is only a few seconds until the two women can hear movement of clothing and what sounds like equipment clattering against another out in the corridor. Looking at each other, they both silently suspect that it isn's the large, seemingly nonsentient men who had all four – though Marie can't differentiate how many from the sound, Mu holds up four fingers – stop in their approach. Of course, they both suspect that the one or ones instructing the hulks are inspecting their dead member.

Marie can't hear any sounds from the outside, aside from the station's operation's hums permeating everywhere. She looks to Mu for guidance as to when to let loose the workbot and Mu nods, holding up five fingers. In the back of her mind, Marie is surprised at the silent communication working so well between the two of them. In a countdown, she folds one after the other and when only the last finger is up, Marie instructs the workbot to open its arms and step out into the entrance.


	61. Chapter 57

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The first of the two hulks, apparently walking closely side by side, likely to coordinate as inconspicuous a peek into the room as possible, steps directly into the workbot's arms. Marie pushes the buttons to close those arms and, for just that moment, is glad to see that the machine caught the hulk and manages to firmly hold it in place. The body's movement makes it obvious that he is trying to break free, but his expression shows none of the strain. Marie feels like wanting to gag, the unnatural figure creeping her out.

It is impossible to tell if the other one is surprised, unsure or even remotely capable of such thoughts at all, but he remains standing in the doorway, looking at his apprehended companion. This gives Marie the time to move away from the doorway. She has to watch helplessly when Mu uses the opportunity to pick up one of the larger pieces of equipment, a seemingly thick piece of metal, and, with a fierce snarl, swing it toward the free standing hulk. The man barely manages to avoid the metal from hitting his head. Instead, Mu lands a solid, inhumanly strong blow on the man's shoulder. Those bones give in under the pressure, breaking with a sickeningly loud crack.

Meanwhile, while still keeping an eye on Mu, Marie reaches the computer console and is happy to find what she expected for a laboratory. She hits the alarm button, which, as the label states, would perhaps someday warn scientists working here from environmental spill. While it isn't immediately giving away their exact position, at least it warns what Marie hopes is the backup team.

Sadly, she observes, the alarm doesn't distract the opponent Mu is facing. Anticipating that it doesn't do anything, perhaps, though, managing to distract him, Marie still pulls out her stun gun again, aiming for the man, this time a lot more secure in that decision. Without shaking hands and a clearer mind, she takes aim and fires another shot.

–

Crouching next to one of his downed soldiers, the man tries to find out what killed him. Blood is still slowly leaking out of he five punctures on either side of the thick neck. Rather disbelieving, the only conclusion he can come to when he examines those injuries, is that one of the two women managed to penetrate the soldier's neck with their bare hands. _What the hell are we going up against here?_ he thinks. It dampens his feeling of security a little, despite having three more of those guys with him and himself armed. _And which one of the two did this?_

Which is another thing he notices. Several stun charges still stick to the soldier's side and he suspects more on his front. From that, he assumes that the charges didn't do any damage, otherwise there would have been no reason to kill the soldier. He also assumes that the charges were fired by the police woman, which, in turn, would imply that the other one, the businesswoman, had ripped at the soldier's throat.

It doesn't really matter to find answers to those questions, the soldier's were dispensable. If push comes to shove, he'll get them to hold the opposition in place, while he fires his stun charges at the two he's supposed to capture.

Looking back up, he uses hand signs to instruct the two soldiers up front to scout out the room ahead. The third soldier just rounded the intersection to the adjacent corridor, standing to wait for his next instructions.

The other two heed his command and proceed toward the lab's entrance, where they would cover each other to take a place at the entrance's edge. The moment they start to look around the corner, however, they act like they are met by opposition. From his position, the man can't see which of the two women is dumb enough to attack both of those things at the same time, but from what is laying next to him, he is excluding the possibility that it's just the police woman or both of them at the same time.

A second later, he can see one soldier staggering back slightly, back into his view. He can see two yellow, mechanical arms wrapped around the man's back. Without thinking about it, he moves forward. Taking the opportunity to use that strange combination as a visual shield, he tries to look into the room himself. But, despite the workbot, he can't see anyone from his position outside. What he can see, however, is a large object impacting with the second soldier, clearly breaking the arm it hits.

For the moment that he can see the metal object, he can only stare at its size. Questions rush through his head, as to what kind of person could wield such a huge thing effectively as a weapon. He has to assume that both the soldiers are now out of commission and before he can think of what to instruct the third on how to proceed, the station's loud alarm goes off and irritates, confuses him that much more. The small twitches of the hurt solder, induced by yet another attack, escape his notice though.

Cursing, he jumps closer to the wall with the lab's entrance. Still blocked from being seen by those inside, he presses himself against the wall, looking for the third soldier again. An idea strikes him as to how to use him to get a better view inside. That idea evaporates when he can't find the soldier anymore. Looking around in even more confusion, he curses louder

He is just about to jump into action himself, sure in his own weapon and skill, if nothing else. Another look in the direction of where the third soldier stood reveals him again. Halting in surprise, the man is unsure if he's just seeing things, perhaps starting to have mental problems due to stress. His eyes grow wide when he realizes the soldier is holding a gun as well. _Oh shit!_ Without thinking about it, jumps up and rushes toward the soldier. He recognizes the gun in the meaty hands to be a projectile weapon.

He doesn't even want to imagine what that thing could do, so close to the outer walls of the station. So close to outer space.

–

Marie is just about able to use the confusion and the time Mu's effort buys her, when suddenly the sound of the alarm is drowned by rapidly repeating, loud bangs. It takes her a second to realize what she's hearing. Guns that shoot lethal projectiles have become a rarity outside of the military. Her lessons about them, even firing them, are quite a few years back and she hasn't heard that sound since. It does, however, elicit the appropriate response, if not for the situation as a whole.

Fear envelops her yet again. At least this time, she is prepared for it, since she is already facing the strangely mutated men directly. Fear in itself is a useful thing, but not when she has no time to think of a way to counter this firing gun.

Ducking for cover, while the walls forming the entrance are perforated, tiny dots of light appearing in them, she tries to get a glimpse at Mu. The few seconds it takes her to locate the woman feel like an eternity, her worry rising quick. It even overpowers her own fear and she stops in her moves to get behind the large metal crate in a corner of the room. She does spot Mu, already in a covered position behind a pile of sturdy looking building material. A stray thought, which almost makes her laugh out loud hysterically, lets Marie assume Mu would surely know what and what not to hide behind.

As soon as it started, the thunderous cracks of exploding gunpowder stop, leaving only the alarm, strangely muted, in the background. _That'll tell them where we are._ Marie thinks. Her mind conflicted between hoping for the backup to be careful rather and just plain quick. Luckily, she had told them that they can't rule out armed opposition. Nevertheless, that usually doesn't mean projectile weaponry. In the short moment of perceived silence, she berates herself for not thinking it possible for a group of mercenaries to be **really** well armed.

That silence is shattered again, when the one with the gun obviously found more bullets. Finally in a position that allows her to take in her surroundings more closely, Marie looks at the two hulks in the doorway. The one with the broken body half, courtesy to Mu, has fallen to his knees, bleeding profusely from several wounds all over his body. _They're shooting up their own people! _Marie stares in horror. The other one, still enveloped in the workbot's hold, has stopped his movements altogether. A wound on the back of his head told of his way of passing.

Yet again the firing stops. Complete silence now envelops them, even the alarm has ceased. Marie isn't sure what is going to happen now, expecting the gun to go off again just as quickly as before. The hallway outside and the laboratory remain silent.

Relief washes over Marie when, albeit with her ears ringing from the excessive noise, she hears someone shout "Put the weapon down now! You! Stay on the ground!" Immediately she dares to run over to Mu.


	62. Chapter 58

The backup team could apparently see her through the doorway, almost running the few steps to where Mu hides. Marie complies when one of them shouts for her to stay where she is. Albeit wanting to rush on, glancing from the approaching officers to Mu and back as soon as her eyes settle on either one, she remains where she stands. Unmoving, she holds her hands up to signal she's unarmed. Someone among the team obviously recognizes her, calling her by name "Castaneda!"

She assumes that saves her from being tackled and thrown to the ground to be apprehended, or perhaps that is just her mind overreaching. Regardless, she's grateful to see the others, in turn recognizing who calls her by name, and tells them exactly that "Dobson! Good to see you, too." Slowly lowering her arms, she looks over to Mu again, where two members of the team are pointing their weapons. The woman is just coming from behind the crates and other stuff, her arms up as well.

"She's with me." Marie tells the officers, one of whom looks back at her for confirmation. He tells his colleague to lower his weapon, when he receives it in the form of a nod from Marie. "Thanks." They could, and going by protocol really should have taken both of them into custody, before allowing them to walk away. As more of the team enters the room and recognize Marie, people she'd worked with before or knew from other occasions as it turns out, camaraderie takes over and they grant Mu the benefit of the doubt.

"All right, all clear." Dobson confirms, standing next to Marie and following the progress, when two of his colleagues signal that they finished sweeping the entirety of the room. "Are you two all right as well? Thanks for the racket, made it a lot easier to find you." he jokes, warily eyeing the holes in the wall. Finally able to concentrate on whom he's supposed to support in the first place, he frowns at the red of the blood on Marie's face, hands and her arms. "What happened?" he asks, while looking over to Mu, his frown deepening. "And why are you so torn up?"

At that, Marie jerks around to look at Mu, immediately concerned that something did hit the woman after all. As she saw earlier, there is blood on Mu's hands as well, which, Marie thinks in the back of her mind, will be hard to explain how it got there and thus on her own. Being preoccupied with other things, she hadn't noticed, before they had to run from their attackers, the state of Mu's clothing. Which she is now sure Dobson is asking about.

The most damage to Mu's white, form fitting turtleneck pullover is on the back, revealing quite a bit of the smooth, white skin. The feet-ends of the woman's jeans, as well as the hip area are ripped open, equally revealing. _Oh boy._ Marie hopes her colleagues don't notice the rather severe flush that must be the cause for her heating face. While the rakish, disheveled look, combined with the expressionless face that is framed by an explosion of hair, makes Marie's heart beat faster, it also presents a problem. Marie is immediately aware that the damage is from Mu's transformation, but how she would explain that, she has no idea. The fact that the woman doesn't seem in the least perturbed by the fact that she reveals a lot of skin doesn't help to clear Marie's head.

It wasn't on her list of priorities while being attacked, of course, so anything she would come up with now would probably seem exactly like it is. That she just came up with it. At least she can be relieved that Mu isn't hurt even more, which was her initial assumption. "She's..." As she expected, Marie is at a loss at how to explain Mu's state.

"I have been slightly battered when I was forced to fend off opposition." Mu seamlessly segues. It earns her disbelieving looks from all of the team who could hear it. It is not lost on Marie, who is staring at Mu herself. _Where is she going to go with... _"The captain" gesturing at Marie, Mu continues solemnly "was about to be overwhelmed by one of the..victims, actually. But that is for another discussion. Nevertheless, her armament apparently had no effect, which led me to take action." It seems like everyone at once is about to ask what that action might be. Since everyone present, including Mu herself, knows it's impossible to do the kind of damage to even a normal person. Never mind that which they must have seen before entering, the team's suspicion is visibly growing quick.

"At the time, the choice between receiving a few injuries and potentially losing someone I came to care about greatly was rather obvious and simple. My mind has yet to changed on that opinion." Dobson and the others who know Marie stare dumbly back and forth between Mu and a furiously blushing police captain.

Marie's mind, on the other hand, draws a blank on retorts to that blatant a statement. "Mu..." she tries, already giving away more familiarity than what is usual between police and charge. Her mind overflows with conflicting emotions and rationalizations. On the one hand, Marie would gladly agree with Mu immediately. In fact, she does, thoroughly, though not aloud. On the other hand, while sure of her emotions conveyed with the kiss they shared, declaring that affection to others, never mind with such simple confidence, is..._Exhilarating, actually._ her mind supplies, unhelpfully.

After a long moment of silence, at least it feels like an eternity to Marie, she decides not to contradict or question Mu's – certainly appreciated – statement. The backup team isn't likely to have all the information regarding the woman, so Marie hopes they don't know about her involvement either. She also hopes that the situation around them is proof enough of whose side Mu is on.

"That's twice she's saved my life now." Marie finally mutters, loud enough for the others to hear. Her blush still present, she looks at Mu fondly. In the end, she sees no point in hiding the fact that she reciprocates the woman's feelings. _Couldn't have made it clearer than earlier anyway. _Despite the urge to do so, showing her just how much she appreciates Mu and her relief that she's unhurt would be a little too much with the audience though. Marie settles for gently stroking the woman's arm, which earns her a breathtaking smile.

Somehow they aren't being questioned further. Despite the still present suspicion from Dobson and the others, they seem to accept that wanting to save someone, adrenaline and all that, can lead to incredible feats of the body. Marie thinks that would be her opinion of the events just now, anyway. The inactivity is broken when another team member enters the room to report "All set. We've cuffed that guy. He isn't talking, of course." Whom exactly the officer is talking about, Marie doesn't know, expecting it unlikely that it is one of those hulking killers. _The cuffs wouldn't be big enough._ "That other...thing is dead. Just collapsed with the last shot Sanders took."

"All right, let's go through the station again. Just to be sure." He points to three of his men, signaling to follow him.

Marie takes a deep breath and asks "Mind if we tag along? We're here to find something." she leaves it ambiguous, without lying. She'd see to open a connection to the station's systems, so James would be able to investigate them thoroughly. For now, the station would remain closed and guarded by police anyway, since it turned into a proper crime scene.

Carefully avoiding the workbot and its charge still enclosed in its arms, as well as the other body lying in the way, Marie stops outside of the laboratory room, seeing, fully aware for the first time, destruction around them. Then and there, realization of what, exactly, had happened in the last...She didn't even know how much time passed since the two of them arrived at the station.

Marie stares at the bodies, the apprehended survivor and the havoc they caused. "Oh my goodness..." she mutters. It seems, the earlier bout of fear that had washed over her somehow lessened the effect of what she sees now. Dobson informs her that he and his team had actually grabbed the man who is now kneeling on the floor in cuffs, while he was attempting to take down one of the hulks. Marie touches two of the bullet holes in the wall that separated her and Mu from the attackers. "These could've pierced the hull?" she looked at Dobson questioningly. When he nods, Marie takes another deep breath. "Well, let's get out of here. Though, we shouldn't forget what we're here for." Mu, who is standing close to her the entire time, remains silent, but agrees with a nod.


	63. Chapter 59

Every now and again, Marie turns to her right, to look at Mu, making sure she is with her, still there at all. Slowly, but surely more thorough realization had set in. What they managed to escape. Still, there is an upside to the trouble. Finally they have someone directly involved to talk to, interrogate as the case may be, as well as Mu's possession back. Never mind the relief of having had a chance to clean the blood of their hands.

They haven't walked far from the spot Mu led them to yet. Nobody had questioned how or the fact that Mu took lead when they left the lab, but since Marie simply follows her, a few of the others do, too. Marie wonders what the other officers might be thinking, seeing Mu effortlessly carry a rather large strongbox.

She can fully understand why Mu wouldn't give it out of her hands, to anyone. So it comes as a surprise to Marie, when Mu suddenly stops, about half way back to the docking bay. When Marie does so as well, looking at the woman, Mu hands the box out to Marie, asking "Would you mind carrying it?" Marie's surprise must be obvious, as Mu elaborates with a smile "It seems I have strained my previous injuries more than I anticipated."

Their companions eye them both with even more mocking disbelief, while Marie's initial concern is eased by Mu, who says "It is nothing of concern. A few stings, that is all." Somehow, even though Marie is quite a bit more muscular, from what the others can tell with them both wearing long sleeves, the seem to be expecting Marie to collapse under the weight. The lightweight, extremely sturdy material of the box is, obvious to all, not the problem, but none of the other three know what's inside of it. That makes Marie wonder what they imagined.

Taking it and carrying it with ease, she almost laughs out loud when she sees their disappointment. Mu thanks her and they head back to their individual ships, where the rest of the team is already waiting with the captive. Those who have been guarding the ship until now would remain on the station. A forensic team would be on the way now, likely with still more armed backup of their own, though.

–

Marie and Mu, having their own transport, spend the flight back in easy, comfortable silence. They rest, drowse in the comfortable seats the vessel offers. Their hands lay on the center console between them, fingers interlocked. It seemed like a natural thing to do. Marie would have liked to kiss the woman once more the moment they were alone in their flyer. To thank the woman for saving her and show her appreciation of her being there properly. But she knows that the vehicle monitors all sorts of things during flight. It is an official police vessel, after all. She settles for sharing a few potent looks, receiving alike in return.

"You sure you don't need treatment?" Marie finally asks, seeing Mu wince in pain from time to time. "At least take some painkillers or something, just to move with less strain."

"I am fine." Mu says, exhaling deeply. Seeing Marie's clearly disbelieving look, she amends "Really, I am. There are just a few more bruises. Mostly. I am also allergic to most pain medication." holding up her hand at the obviously incoming protest from Marie, she chuckles "No I am not trying to make this difficult. It seems I have no choice but to live with it. And keep out of trouble for a while now. So I better not follow you around for the time being."

Marie grumbles indignantly, muttering something about that hasn't been actively looking for that kind of excitement. "It's not like I want to be blown up." she adds, meaning for it to be more of a bit of dark humor than anything.

Mu turns to her sharply at that statement, apparently easily ignoring the pain that must call forth. "If I could, I would spare you from ever having lived through either of these events." She looks at their intertwined hands, her expression troubled. "Alas, that is impossible."

Now it is Marie's turn to interject Mu. Letting go of her hand, surveillance be damned, she cups Mu's cheeks again. "I wasn't serious. You've done more than your share to keep me safe." She sighs deeply "It was supposed to be my job, don't you think? Especially to be more careful." and grins at Mu. "Which reminds me..."

Though she is happy about the sentiment, Mu needs to know that, for the moment, there are still limits to announcing their budding intimacy to others. "You should know by now that I do appreciate you. Quite a lot." she whispers, having to restrain herself from just leaning forward. "But I'm still doing a job on your case." She pauses a moment, dreading the implications of that. "Which means, for the moment, we need to keep this," Her restraint is apparently somehow forgotten, finally finding Mu's lips again. Perhaps mostly to push her point home. "or what it might become, between us." She tries, awkwardly, to lessen the suspected sting of that request "Not a secret, mind you."

Contrary to what she expects, however, which might be a disappointed woman leaning away from her, Mu smiles. It turns into a smirk, before she says "I know."

"You...you do?" Marie hasn't had that kind of situation yet, so she is slightly at a loss. Her imagination's expectations vanish in an instant, leaving behind the earlier scene playing through her head again. "That's not what it seemed like earlier."

"Where was the harm?" Mu's grin grows at Marie's confusion. "As I told you before, I am a good judge of character. The people that heard what I said know you and care about you. And they seem the type to tell their mind. Like Mr. Harwing had tried when he noticed something off on the flight to the station." That leaves Marie staring, wide eyed, at Mu. _So she had noticed..._ Not bothering to come up with a reproach for any of that – enjoying it, really, though she'd never tell – Marie sighs yet again, giving up. "However, rest assured, I will not make this a problem for you. Your point is a valid one and I do not want to complicate things for you."

"Thank you...I think." Somehow Marie isn't sure if she just lost an argument or...won the attention of one of the most understanding women she'd met to date. She settles for the latter, liking that possibility a whole lot more.

When the flyer's computer signals that they are close to reentering the planet's atmosphere, Marie glances at the time. They have been on the station and in transit to and from it for most of the day. Once they'd land, it would already be evening.

* * *

><p>Don't worry, this story's not dead.<br>I'm trying to figure out how to learn how to write better (Yes, that order.)  
>Most of this and the other things I've started, I would think, are rather...stiff. I'm sometimes<br>starting to doubt I'm doing much of any characterization at all.  
>Though, that is mostly how it felt (and still feels) on another story, it still creeps into this one<br>as well. It's hard to find good advice on the internet and impossible outside, because of work.  
>A rotating shift at work doesn't help...can't take courses, which I'd like to do.<p>

My goal was to finish this story at the end of the third year. To think that it took this long is  
>bad enough.<br>There's also thoughts about making this a two-parter. Problem I see with that is keeping the  
>audience's interest, seeing how this drags a little already.<br>Last, but not least, I hope I'm not messing up the tone I've set so far, just because I try to  
>get better in general.<p>

Well...enjoy and thanks for doing so.


	64. Chapter 60

Marie paces up and down the hallway in front of the bare bone interrogation room. The only one of the district headquarter, to which Dobson and his team had taken the apprehended suspect. Marie had steadfastly refused to take another visit to the health center, wanting to get to the suspect. Mu had stepped in, when Marie seemed ready to disobey orders. _Not that I would have. _Marie thinks. And she knows she'd given in before mutinying. _So be grateful for being rescued._ It came as no real surprise that Mu managed to soothe and persuade Marie's superior that they were both well enough, but would get a check up once everything had settled.

And the last of that everything now sits in the room Marie hesitates to enter. Now that Marie has the chance to talk with the suspect – _To interrogate_, she reminds herself – she is at a loss how to proceed. She still had no tangible evidence to pressure the man into telling her who made him do what he did on the station. Getting him convicted for what he did isn't enough at all, since she needs the people behind it all. The files that contained everything related to the case lay on the table near the entrance to the room. Though she already knows most of it by heart, Marie still lacks the vital elements that connect everything together. Thanks to the incident on the station, she didn't have the chance to go to the other suspicious person James and she had found earlier.

Marie stops pacing when Mu enters the anteroom to the interrogation room. The woman had insisted that she go and get food and drink for Marie and herself. _Not the kind of romantic dinner I would have hoped for.._ Marie muses, pushing the small, round table and two chairs further back into the room, so they wouldn't have to see the suspect while eating. _But some food should work wonders. _Smiling, Mu sets down two packs of take-out meals of meat and vegetables. "I am surprised you are not in there yet." she teases. Pulling out two small bottles of water, one from each of her jacket's pockets, Mu adds them on the table. Marie looks at her suspiciously and before she can say anything, the other woman smirks. "Coffee will not help you now. Water, on the other hand, you still need."

Thinking back on it, Mare reluctantly has to agree. She knows, she hasn't had enough fluids in the past few days in general. Nevertheless, she can't help herself, missing a good dose of caffeine. "My mind's dry, not my throat." she sighs. Though now that Mu is back, she already feels a lot better. Her mind perceived just the presence of the woman already completely different than before their confessions. _It's to be expected, isn't it? _she thinks wryly. Acting on the initial butterflies had them swarm her head. She appreciates the feeling thoroughly, though.

"So it would seem. Otherwise you would be questioning that person already."

Marie remains quiet, stabbing her food again and again without actually noticing it. She is aware that Mu watches her, grateful that the woman doesn't push. "I'm the first in a really, really long while, you know?" she says, to herself and her food, not looking at Mu. "I've checked. Just out of curiosity." When she finally looks up, Marie meets expecting eyes, offering quiet reassurance. "It's been several decades since the last time anything even remotely comparable has happened." When Mu still doesn't say anything, Marie takes a deep breath and finally opens up completely "I'm way out of my element. Back on the station, I was scared witless." Marie flashes a crooked grin. "Still am. I mean, I know I'm safe here, now, the guy won't do anything, but.." Mu stops the imminent stream of babbling by putting her finger on Marie's lips.

The woman takes Marie's hands in her own. "I would be surprised if you were not scared. I know I was. Everything that happened," she doesn't meet Marie's eyes, remembering her unhinged reaction to seeing Marie being attacked, "it was more a succession of instinctual responses, rather than deliberate, confident show of force." She fixates on Marie's eyes again, trying to convey her sincerity. "I would like to say that I was scared more for you than myself. But" she points to the previously injured parts of her body, "despite being a bit more sturdy, I did fear for my own life just as much."

Gently stroking Marie's palm, she adds "Seeing you in peril, though, did offer perhaps the necessary final push to fight back." She doesn't tell Marie that, in that moment, she only saw red. Not much of any emotion left, but the need to get the attacker off of Marie. That unnerves her as much as she believes it will make Marie wary. She makes a mental note to make sure to talk to Marie about it, but also ask her mother. "Believe me that it is not a common practice of mine to jump genetically altered fighters." That makes Marie laugh and in turn Mu smile. "In there, you will find a mental challenge. There will be no harm to your person anymore. And that, I am confident, you have no difficulty to face."

"Thanks." Marie raises Mu's hand and kisses it. Looking at it for a moment, she realizes how glad she is that she can do that, smiling at Mu. But she also has to admit to herself that, initially, it was a dying adrenaline rush and near hysteria induced giddiness, rather than appreciation and genuine affection. She manages to stop herself from apologizing for it. Attraction had been there a long time and her affection is certainly genuine now. "Thank you. For being here." Kissing the hand once more, Marie looks up sheepishly "Despite everything, I'm really starting to appreciate having cut short my recuperation time." The thought of possibly having missed the opportunity to meet the woman in front of her dies quickly. _No what ifs. We're here, now._

"Ah, but that is a mutually beneficial circumstance. Despite my admonishing you for it." Mu says, grinning. Leaning over the table, her intent obvious, Marie meets her in a sensual kiss. She hopes that she can soon give back as much affection and reassurance as she is receiving in that moment. The other woman looks like she is about to say more, but their quiet moment is broken when the door to the anteroom opens. Mu lets go of Marie's hands, but Marie takes back hold of them immediately, squeezing Mu's in a gesture to say it's all right.

It is too late anyway, since the door opens away from them, offering an immediate full view of the room. Marie's Commander and James immediately spot the two upon entering, though to them it must seem like the two women are just shaking is blushing slightly, while Mu gets up smoothly to greet the two newcomers. From where Marie stands, it seems that the woman tries block the other two's view on Marie on purpose. Whether or not that is the case, Marie pulls herself together, but she can't entirely get rid of the warmth in her cheeks. _Perhaps it's still best that they didn't come in a moment earlier._

"Castaneda. Ms. Lunastra." Marie's commander nods to the latter, heading straight for the one way mirror set into the wall. The room isn't very big, so with four people it already becomes a bit cramped. Especially with the table pulled from its usual corner, providing an additional obstacle to the computer on another table at the other end. "Did you talk with him already?" the Commander asks Marie, noticing the food.

"No, sir, I haven't." Marie doesn't elaborate further.

"Well, that's too bad." Though he sighs, he looks at her understandingly. As far as Marie knows, he never had to deal with pressure from superiors and delegating for a case of the current magnitude in his career either. Marie, on the other hand, doesn't understand what he means. Apparently that shows in her expression, so the man tries to explain "A few minutes ago, I received a call. From someone I've never had to deal with before. The whole case is out of our hands."

In the brief pause where he looks at their suspect, through the window, Marie glances to Mu. She looks as surprised as Marie herself feels. Though it only really shows in a raised eyebrow, Marie can see the tension in the woman's posture that wasn't there until now. As much as that comes as a surprise to hear, to Marie, it still doesn't explain anything. Remembering that she'd been in a similar situation before, she dreads asking "Sir?"

"The Deputy Commissioner informed me that he was to relay the Commissioner's regrets that this case is to be handed over to-" he gets cut off when the door opens yet again and two people, a man and a woman in gray uniforms walk in. The man closes the door behind them. "Them." he finishes.

"Good evening." the woman greets, standing tall, even with a cane in her left hand, beret clutched to her side.

* * *

><p>Yet another Note, hopefully the last one in a long while.<br>After much debate with myself, I think I now know in which direction  
>I want to take the story. I don't know if this is the right thing to do, I don't know<br>if that's not a 'Don't' of writing or whatever...All I hope is to keep your attention.  
>It does mean, however, that the story will be much longer than I had ever thought.<p>

Well...We'll see what comes of it. Thank you.


End file.
